Press Drying of Beechwood

The Danish firm of A/s Junckers Savvaerk produces parquet flooring panels by jointing short strips of medium quality beech. Despite the fact that among the common European hardwoods beech has the greatest shrinkage and swelling caused by moisture fluctuations, the product has become the predominant flooring material in Denmark. This is achieved by combining the stabilization of the wood with the drying process in a method now called press drying. Green wood, 75 by 30 by 610 mm, is taken directly from the sawmill to a steaming plant and heated to 100?C. The strips are then placed in one layer on aluminum cauls and dried in a 20 opening press at a pressure of 170 psi and temperature of 165?C for from 120 to 135 minutes. The strips are then conditioned to 7-8 percent moisture content.

You must be logged in to download any documents. Please login (login accounts are free) or learn how to Become a Member