Kiln-Drying Selected Colombian Woods

Improved kiln schedules for kiln-drying three Colombian woods–cuangare (Dialyanthera spp.), sande (Brosimum), and sajo (Campnosperma panamensis)–are described. Normal green 1-inch material was dried to 7-1/2 percent moisture content in 6 to 8 days. With a low-temperature schedule to avoid collapse of the wood, slightly air-dried sajo containing tension wood was satisfactorily dried to 7-1/2 percent moisture content in 10 days. Procedures for drying the woods separately or together from the green condition or from a partly air-dried condition are included. Of three schedules–severe, moderate, and mild in the degree to which they induce degrade–the moderate schedule was ultimately chosen as most satisfactory. Satisfactory relief from drying stresses was attained with the three species by equalizing at 1 percent lower moisture content than is normally recommended, then conditioning for 6 hours at the equilibrium moisture content values usually prescribed. The screening procedure for developing kiln schedules for unfamiliar woods with similar characteristics is, apparently, a useful approach.

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