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Seasoning Timber - Coggle Diagram
Seasoning Timber
Why does timber need to be seasoned?
When the tree is felled it is said to be 'Green wood'. This means that the tree has too much moisture to be used in construction
If we use 'Green wood' to make furniture as it dries out the timber will shrink and possibly split
Increase strength and resistance to decay and mold
To remove the bound moisture contained in walls of the wood cells
The moisture needs to be reduced to around 10% before we can use it to build with
How is timber seasoned?
There are two different methods of seasoning wood - Air seasoning and Kiln seasoning (drying)
Air drying
Naturally air dried timber can take at least a year to dry out, but it is more stable than kiln dried timber.
Air dried timber is more expensive than air dried timber
Kiln drying
It takes 5-6 weeks to dry timber that is 25mm thickness
Wood is cut into planks and then placed in a special drying kiln where moisture is removed in a carefully controlled way.
When you buy timber from a shop you should store it in a room with a similar humidity to where the furniture you are making will live, so that the timber has the same amount of moisture. That way it will not shrink.
If you don't season timber correctly is can split!
