Wood Drying

After we sawed the logs into 25mm boards, we transported them to the Biotechnical faculty (wood department), where prof. Aleš Straže and his students made a drying plan for the Tree of Heaven wood, which they had not tried before. For the first two weeks the stack of boards was put outside in the shade for air-drying. In this first stage the wood released its initial humidity, and after that the drying process continued in the kiln for one month where the wood was dried to its final 12-15% of humidity. While drying it is important to know what the final use of the wood will be. For example indoor furniture must not exceed the 8-10%, but for our beehives which will be outside it is enough to dry them to 12-15%.

During the process, students checked the shrinkage and the curving of the boards. At the end we had some shrinkage and curving but nothing that would affect our production process.