Apr 2nd, 2008 | Drying | 1 Comment
When drying lumber it is very important to have proper airflow through you drying chamber. This will allow your lumber to not only dry faster but also more evenly. Lumber that starts out at a higher moisture content will need more airflow through the chamber. Considerations when making sure you have enough airflow are chamber size, amount of lumber, species and the type of drying chamber you are using. Please comment if you have any questions and I would be happy to help with sizing.
Dec 12th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
Pre Drying is one of the most commonly overused steps when drying lumber. In order to probably dry lumber in a kiln pre drying must take place but only if your kiln is not equipped to dry from green. Otherwise it is a huge waste of money. To pre dry lumber, the lumber must be kept in a regulated building until the lumber is brought down to 25% moisture content.
Dec 10th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
Conditioning lumber is one of the more important steps when drying wood. Conditioning refers to adding water back to the wood to decrease the chances of damaging the wood by drying to fast or too hot. Conditioning helps to reduce the stress on the surface of the wood that typically is drying at a faster rate than the inner core.
You should always do a stress test at the end of each load to verify the integrity of the lumber.
Nov 10th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
A common question that is asked outside of the lumber industry is “why dry wood?”
- MONEY – Dried lumber can be sold at a much higher price than green lumber.
- STRENGTH – Lumber that is dried will not shrink as much, has hardened pitch, and is much stronger.
- EASIER – Dried lumber is easier to work with. As a result products can be built faster with more reliability.
Jul 10th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
Wood is always trying to reach an equilibrium with it’s enviornment.
A common question is whether or not wood will stay dry after it has been kiln dried…..
The answer is yes…..and no. Wood will actually stay near it’s kiln dried moisture content. However, it will absorb water from the air on humid days and shrink some on dry hot days.
Even a rain coat isn’t going to help you.
Jul 10th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
Oak typically ways around 6 lbs per board foot.
So, if you have a truckload of 10000 board feet, you have 60000 lbs (30 tons) of lumber.
Now, this measurement of water is saying that the moisture content of the oak lumber is green and around 65% moisture content.
In order to be sold the wood must be dried to around 7% moisture content. In other words 3 to 4 lbs per board foot.
If you dried the lumber down to 4 lbs per board foot, you’re taking 20000 lbs of weight out of the truck load or 10 TONS!!!!!!!!
That’s a few buckets of water.
Jul 10th, 2007 | Drying | No Comments
First part of the process is identifying the type of wood that you are drying. Softwoods generally come from trees with needles where as hardwoods generally come from trees with leaves. The species of the wood is actually more important to know when drying in order to determine the proper speed. Oak for instance typically needs to be dried slower than most other species because it will degrade and not dry properly otherwise.
Believe it or not, there is actually a correct way to dry every kind of wood.
Jun 25th, 2007 | Drying, Hardwoods, Softwoods | No Comments
Wood Drying Information Network
If you’re looking for information about drying wood. This custom designed search engine will help guide you to the most up to date information from the best wood drying resources. Do you need help with your depression settings? Ask our search engine for help. Are your drying more than one type of wood. Find out what how to determine moisture content or where to buy a moisture meter. Type in any search to get results fast.
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