Drying hard maple for whiteness

Permissible extremes for dehumification drying of maple, to accentuate whiteness. 1998.

by Professor Gene Wengert

Q.
We are equipped with a dehumidification kiln and are curious to know if there has been a schedule developed to dry hard maple for whiteness. We have spoken to a few owners of these systems who have developed their own "recipes" and I am interested to know if there has been a schedule proven effective in this area.

A.
There is a listing of a few DH schedules in an FPS Drying News Digest, dated October 1992. If you can accelerate the temperature above 120, feel free to go up to 150F gradually when under 20% MC.

Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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