Vacuum drying northern red oak

Vacuum drying of lumber has been considered for many years, but until recently has not been in commercial use. The main attraction of vacuum drying is that by lowering the boiling temperature of water in vacuum, free water can be vaporized and removed at temperatures considerably below 212?F almost as rapidly as it can with high-temperature drying above 212?F. Drying rate is therefore increased without the dangers of drying defects that usually occur above 212?F. In this study, 4/4 northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) was vacuum-dried from green to 6 percent moisture content in less than 4 days. No surface checking was noted, and after surfacing the lumber for further inspection only 2.2 percent of the volume of lumber contained honeycomb. Ten-quarter red oak was vacuum-dried in 12.5 days with only a small amount of honeycomb.

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