STABILITY-KERFING OF GREEN LUMBER TO OBTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING AND FUTURE UTILIZATION

摘要

A technique for end-grain creation is employed for obtaining rapid and uniformdrying of lumber while simultaneously reducing warp. The stability-kerfingresponsiblefor the improved drying of the lumber decreases the edgewise bending strengthby lessthan ten percent, a loss readily recovered due to the ability of stability-kerfing to achievelower and more uniform moisture contents than those realized in thecontemporary dryingof lumber. This overall improvement in moisture content greatly increases theedgewisebending strength for stability-kerfed construction lumber by comparison tothat forcontemporary construction lumber.Its improved moisture condition at the time of entry into the marketing streamalso fosters future dimensional stability compared to that for contemporarylumber. Therequired stability-kerfing is easily accomplished by the specializedimplementation ofexisting saw equipment and associated technology into the contemporaryprocessinglines.