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Innovative Wood Drying: Applying Microwave and Solar Technologies to Wood Drying

Emphasis in the hardwood industry is shifting away from structural-grade timber toward the production of high-value products. Many dense hardwoods are extremely difficult to dry without causing defects such as: splitting, warping, twisting, and collapse. Solar power is a convenient and cheap energy source that can be easily applied to timber drying. It greatly improves wood quality and reduces timber drying costs by 50% or more compared with conventional drying kilns; however solar kilns are still slow and powerless to manipulate the density and moisture permeability of wood. A thorough mathematical study of the microwave heating phenomenon demonstrates that intense microwave energy can blast tiny holes through the wood structure to create microscopic pathways through which moisture may readily move. This process reduced solar kiln wood drying times by about 33 % without causing any change in the visible quality of the dried timber. This acceleration in solar drying is attributed to a 9% reduction in wood density and a substantial increase in moisture permeability associated with the microscopic internal fractures created in the wood by the microwave treatment.

A Norway maple belonging to friends was storm-damaged, and I asked for a couple of the still-green branches for this project. Krympburkarna--shrink pots--are made from both green and dry wood to create a no-nails, no-glue vessel.

All the instructions I could find were pretty vague, or in Swedish, so I guess I'm indulging in trial-and-error.

I decided on my second go 'round that one ought to cut a base first, to give it time to dry. Mine was about 8 mm thick, and if you don't have already dry wood (which I didn't), one of the sets of instructions I consulted said you could microwave it for a few seconds (I did two bursts of 15 seconds, letting it cool between).

Wood
Doors, Window Frames of Burma Solid Teak Wood
Bedroom Cabinets of Solid Double Reinforced Marine Plywood
Kitchen Cabinets of MDF

Electrical/Lighting/Fittings
Dedicated MCBs for Washer, Dryer, AC Points, Microwave Point, Designer Toyama Switches
Backup Power from Building 1 KVA
Natural lighting with entire North Face Windowed
Jaguar Fittings in Bathrooms

Flooring and Ceiling
Premium Vitrified Tiles and Ceramic Tiles Flooring
High Waffle Slab with POP False Ceiling
Polished Granite Sills and Parapet Tops

Water
Continuous Water supply through BWSSB
Supplemented by Borewell water, online water treatment system and hydro-pneumatic systems

This book collects the best articles from recent issues of Fine Woodworking on the subject of finding and working with wood. Wood is the one thing that woodworkers have in common and there is endless fascination with the working properties of various species, how to select and season wood and how to store it. Wood has a way of behaving as if it’s still alive, moving with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Learning to work with it rather than against wood movement is critical to successful woodworking.

Table of Contents
Section 1: Buying and Harvesting
Section 2: Selecting Wood
Section 3: Drying Wood
Section 4: Working with Wood
Section 5: Transporting and Storing