Considerations upon the Drying of Oak Lumber

Abstract

Oak is one of the most valuable home-grown wood species which are used in furniture manufacturing, but also one of the most difficult to dry. Severe drying defects, such as checks, collapse, distortion, and discoloration, are quite frequent and may cause significant material losses. In order to assist wood-processing enterprises in optimizing this drying process, the authors have gathered some of the most relevant information on drying time, energy consumption, and drying quality when applying various drying techniques to various oak wood species. Some recommendations based on the authors’ own experimental research with the conventional drying of oak lumber are also presented.