Timber

Seasoning
Stalú Adhmaid
Lesson number:10
Date: 25/03/2022
ou remember?
 Learning Outcomes
In todays class you will learn
• What a kiln is.
• Different methods to dry timber.
• Moisture content of wood.
• Benefits of seasoning timber.
• Advantages and disadvantages of a kiln.
• How to arrange timber for a kiln.
• How to dry timber using natural way.
• Advantages and disadvantages of air seasoning.
•
 Keywords

Seasoning Kiln Moisture content Sticker

Seasoning wood is the A furnace or oven for Moisture content (or water

process of Kiln stickers are used to dry
burning, baking, or drying content) refers to the or dehydrate lumber
correctly drying timber in weight of the water
order to remove moisture in contained in a certain object
the cells of the wood walls or material

Trolley Vent Green Timber Air Seasoning

Is used to move timber Freshly cut timber that has The process of removing
An opening that allows air,
stacks easily not been dried moisture from timber
gas, or liquid to pass out of
before it is used and put
or into a confined space
into service by drying in air.
Why Dry Timber

 For dimensional stability, green timber(timber that has not been

dried) moves and shrinks when cut, drying timber reduces
movement.
 To reduce moisture content, this protects the wood from fungi
and insects and timber must have different moisture content
depending on its use.
 To be able to machine and use timber for making.
 For adhesives, paint and polishes to stick to the timber.
 Timber is easier to handle as its lighter.
 Dry wood is a better insulator than wet wood if youre building a
timber frame house.
Different Methods of Drying Timber
Air Seasoning (Natural) Kiln Seasoning (Artificial)

Green timber is stacked separately by Green timber is stacked on a trolley. Steam

stickers. Air circulates through the boards jets, heating coils and vents are used to
and slowly dries them. slowly reduce the moisture content in the
boards.
 Air Seasoning

Air drying involves leaving

timber in an open covered
shed or building and letting
natural elements dry timber.
This is a very slow process
compare to kiln dried.

● Advantages ● Disadvantages
● cost effective ● slow process
● can be done anywhere ● difficult to control process
● No labour cost ● large area required
● not energy dependant ● only dry's to 20-22%.
 Kiln Seasoning
The kiln process involves the
drying of wood in a chamber
where air circulation, humidity
and temperature can be
controlled so that the moisture
content of wood can be reduced
to a target point without having
any drying defects.

● Advantages ● Disadvantages How drying takes place in a kiln:

● quicker due to higher temperatures
ventilation and the air circulation
● achieve a lower moisture content
● defects associated with drying can be
controlled
● more precise than air dry
– Hot air is used to heat the timber
● very expensive
through to the centre.
– Fans blow steam around the
● requires a lot of labour by a skilled stack to stop it drying too quickly.
operator – The vents allow wet air out and
● uses a lot of energy fresh air in.
– The fresh air absorbs the
moisture, drying out the timber
Air Kiln
Seasoning Seasoning
Expensive
Inexpensive Effective
Labour
Only dry to intensive
Dry timber
20%
Controllable
Stack it Waterproof
defects
and forget
it Both left Dries
in stacks precisely to
Weather
dependant MC
Moisture Content (MC)
 Moisture content, or %MC, is the measurement of how much water is present in
the wood compared to the dry matter of the wood.
 The green timber is weighed, then dried out fully in an oven. The weight that’s lost is
the amount of moisture that was in the timber.
 Moisture causes the wood to shrink and expand, so its important to remove as much
moisture as you can to make the wood usable.
 The ideal MC of wood for carpentry and furniture making should be between 12-14%.
 Firewood MC is less important, but as many people dry their fire wood outside what
do you think the Moisture Content of firewood would be.
 You calculate MC by subtracting the wet weight of timber by the dry weight, then
dividing this figure by the dry weight.



Moisture Content (MC)
If the wet weight of a piece of timber is 240 grams (g), and its dry
weight is 200 grams (g), calculate the moisture content of the
piece of timber.

Step 1 MC%= M wet (240g) – M dry (200g)

Step 2 MC%= (240-200)

M dry (200)
Step 3
MC%= (40)
(200) X100
Step 4
20% Moisture Content
Seasoning Defects