Introduction
 The drying of wood is the first and perhaps
most important process in downstream manufacturing. If the manufacturer does not
have sufficient, properly dried wood he will not be in a position to manufacture
quality wood products.
Wood, in its natural state, always contains a large amount of water. Lumber
from which little or no moisture has been removed is referred to as green or
unseasoned. The presence of water influences the properties of wood to such an
extent that for many purposes the moisture must be removed before the wood can
be used to manufacture anything.
Wet wood is unstable, will not maintain its original size no matter how
accurately machined, will not sand well, will not glue well and cannot be
finished properly. Some other advantages of drying wood are to reduce freight
charges, (wet wood weighs more than dry wood), to minimise fungal and insect
attack, (dry wood is less susceptible to biodeterioration), and to increase the
strength of the wood.
As the ASEAN timber sector is restructured towards value added manufacturing
the importance of understanding the technology of timber drying becomes vitally
important, it is hoped this technology guide will make a contribution to the
development of the downstream manufacturing sector.
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MTC’s
