Faculty of Applied Arts

Furniture Design& Sciences

Program

wood
Properties
Dr. Doaa Abdel Rahman

Lecturer 5
 Wood processing stages: ‫مراحل تصنيع األخشاب‬
• Cutting of wood :
• Human used the hand tools like axe to cut wood from
forests. Due to the technological and industrial
development, machines have appeared as multi-use
saws, which facilitate cutting in time.
The wood is removed from the forest after the cutting is
completed and then transported to the factories.
After the arrival of the wood to the factories is cut and
classified and placed on top of each of them lifted from the
ground after recording the type and date of cutting and
other information in preparation for the arrange and ready
to be drying.
Cutting directions:
There are three different main levels of cutting and are of
great importance in studying wood in terms of shape and
operation:
1. Occasional level: the horizontal level .
‫ المستوى األفقي‬:‫المستوى العرضي‬
2- Parallel level: The vertical level parallel to the trunk
and vertical fibers on the spinal rays and vertical cutting.
3 - Radiation level (radial): the vertical level passing by
radiation or radius of the trunk.
• B- Drying of wood :
The wood , once cut off from the forests, is not directly
usable because the annual rings carry a lot of food, which,
if left between the annual rings after cutting, they cause
many diseases such as decay ‫ التحلل‬and rot ‫ التعفن‬, etc.,
There is also a large percentage of moisture in the trees as
soon as they are cut. In general, softwoods contain 40% to
70% of their weight water at the time they are cut.
Hardwood contains less than 40% water for it weight
depending on the type and place of planting, Used in the
manufacture of furniture must be the moisture content
within the range of 7-10%.
• The importance of drying wood:
1- Drying reduces the chance of wood injury ‫ إصابة‬with
fungus ‫ الفطريات‬and rot.
2 - Drying of wood increases in most qualities of durability.
3 - The contraction ‫ االنكماش‬associated ‫ المرتبط‬with drying
occurs before the use of wood as a product.
4- Wood drying increases the electrical resistance and heat
insulation properties of wood .
• Wood drying methods are divided into two methods, one
natural and the other industrial.
• First natural way of drying wood :
• Where the wood is scraped ‫تقشير‬and removed from the
outside bark ‫ القشرة‬of the tree, and then cut logs to the
boards or blocks provided that they are equal width and
thickness, and then are stacking these panels or blocks
under the ceiling, provided that some important
conditions are:
• The stack must be of one type wood and also the
standard sizes for width and thickness lengths should be
equal .
• When a piece of wood is placed between the slabs
and some of them, this allows the air stream to pass
through all the parts of the floor so that the wood
surface of the deck is exposed to one weather
condition.
• The wooden place should be kept open from all
sides, making the wood embedded in the wind
currents.
Natural drying time:
The natural drying time depends on temperature variation
during the months of the year and the type and thickness
of the wood, leaving the wood under the trusses for six
months to two years depending on the type of wood.
Hardwoods such as oak need longer than less hardwood
such as beech. The Swede needs less time .
• Advantages of natural drying:
1. Access to dry wood is complete and free from the food
exposed to diseases and fungi.
2. Natural drying does not affect the color of wood, unlike
industrial drying.
3. Access to wood is ideal and this is because the timber
have been exposed to all possible environments.
4. Precious timber ‫االخشاب القيمة‬such as ebony and
mahogany prefer natural drying .
5- Low cost compared to the cost of industrial drying.
6- Energy saving in industrial drying ovens.

• The disadvantage of natural drying :

• It is need for a large areas and long periods of time.
• Industrial drying:
There are two methods for industrial drying:
1. Hot air way.
2. Method of boiling water.
There are new methods of drying wood, including:
1. Integrated systems‫ أنظمة متكاملة‬for drying ovens.
2. Gas ovens .
3. Ovens high-temperature drying.
4. Solar drying.
5. Drying using electricity.
6. Drying using chemicals.
• 1- hot air way:
• We follow the same steps in the natural way of
processing timber as cutting into blocks of one thickness
and width of one type.
The wood is placed into the basins of the running water
quickly so that the wood gets rid of the food between the
cells .
• These woods are then placed in heated concrete floors
and heated air.
• It is very important not to expose the wood inside the
room to cold air once it causes the cracking of wood, but
must be gradually reduced temperature to equal to the
temperature of the outside atmosphere.
One of the disadvantages of this method is that the
wood surface gets burned and its color changes.
• 2- Integrated systems for drying ovens: ‫النظم المتكاملة‬
‫ألفران التجفيف‬
• This model is ideal for wood drying This system allows
the most efficient use of the database through the
computer, which uses all the objectives and precautions
‫االحتياطات‬of drying ovens from the first measurement of
moisture in the green wood until the gradual reduction
of heat for the boards that are drying.
This system achieves the following objectives:
• 1- Direct measurement on the drying line of moisture
for wood.
• 2- Full control of the computer for drying oven.
• 3- Automatic gradation of cooling boards after drying.
Drying and Control of Moisture
Industrial drying disadvantage (defects):
1- Change the color of wood:
• A little change in the color of the wood due to
industrial drying to dark color
2- deflation.
3- Cracking .