Each tree, once cut, has high percentages of humidity, which if they remained would end up making it easy prey for ignoring fungi and bacteria, affecting its stability. Immediately after cutting, the trunks begin to release part of the water contained in the cell lumens, thus initiating a process that leads them to lose part of their weight without however undergoing any decrease in their volume. The latter, also known as the shrinkage phase of the wood, begins when the humidity percentage of the trunk reaches 30%, which is the saturation point of the cell walls. From now on, any loss of humidity will also lead to a substantial reduction in volume. To be able to have material suitable for making furniture and furnishings intended for long life and unalterability over time, it is therefore necessary that the excess water in the cell walls has also been eliminated.
The high percentage of water contained would otherwise end up endangering the beauty of the artifacts, which would run the risk of fungal attacks, embarking and creating small cracks. To be able to reduce the percentage of humidity, we have two processes available:
- natural drying
- artificial drying
Natural and artificial drying, which one to choose?
In the first case, the boards are stacked in sheltered places which offer adequate air changes. The boards, arranged in such a way as to allow air to circulate, lose humidity without the aid of machines. However, the process requires time and dedication, since in addition to guaranteeing dry and ventilated environments, it takes years to reach the desired level and to have suitable boards to be sent to the various processes. This is not always possible when we find ourselves managing wooden material intended to be marketed.
With artificial drying, on the other hand, you can have wooden boards to be used for the most varied creations in just 3/5 days. This is in fact the time they take to lose the percentage of excess humidity inside special ventilated rooms which reproduce the best environmental factors for an ideal wood seasoning.
Thanks to the artificial drying processes proposed by WDE Maspell, it is thus possible to satisfy every market request, with wood treatment systems that don’t cause stress on the material, fully programmable and automated, fast and capable of ensuring quality products.
