Effect of Heat Upon the Dimensional Stabilization of Wood

This article describes investigations that disprove the hypothesis that stabilization of wood by heat is a cross-linking reaction. Data for the heating of both paper and wood in the presence and in the absence of air indicate that air is not needed to cause dimensional stabilization. Anti-shrink efficiencies of more than 45 percent are not obtainable by heating either in air or in nitrogen. The loss in toughness and in abrasive resistance of wood that has been given a significant dimensional stabilization by heating does not appear to be due to oxidation, but it is inherently associated with the other chemical reactions that cause dimensional stabilization. Unless some way can be found to separate the dimension-stabilizing from the embrittling reactions, which does not seem probable, wood stabilized by heat will have limited commercial use.

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