Vacuum Process for Wood Treatment.

Some types of wood contain sap inside. The sap wood is needed to be secreted from the wood at the first time of wood processing. The sap wood will disrupt the process of drying. It could make the drying take too long or be imperfectly done, which may affect the wood quality. Some wood needs the vacuum treatment to avoid the problem of insects or fungi. The vacuum treatment is the secretion of the sap wood using the vacuum force. The vacuum process is usually continued with the application of wood preservation solutions and anti-fungal and anti-insect chemicals. The vacuum process can also be held to handle the oily wood, such as teak wood. The vacuum process is standard to treat the rubberwood, which has latex inside.

vacuum kiln dry

 The vacuum process can be described as follows:

The wood planks are inserted into a tube as a vacuum room. The process is started by flowing the hot water into the tube until it fills the room. The water is then heated to boil the wood. The boiling time is varied according to the wood types and the wood plank sizes, usually about 1 to 2 hours. Then the hot water is pumped and released from the room, and then a vacuum force is used to suck all the water from the room.  The suction is continued to pull out and release the sap wood or oil out of the wood cell.

When the sap and oil are completely released, then the process is continuing with infusing the wood preservation chemical. The anti-insect or anti-fungal (or both) chemical solution is flown to the vacuum room to let the wood be saturated with the chemical. It takes a few minutes to let the chemical solution to seep into the wood and fill the wood pores, grains, and cells.

The timber out of the vacuum process still has a high moisture content; then the drying process is needed to meet the standard of moisture content in the woodworking. Some vacuum machines are equipped to do the drying process, and the drying can be continued in the same tube. The wet wood planks can also be released from the machine and dried in the other kiln.

The advantages of vacuum treatment.

The vacuum process is a process that needs time, effort, and cost; then there should be some benefit offered by this process. For some types of wood, for example, rubber wood and mango wood, the vacuum treatment is absolutely needed. While for some types of wood this process could be an option to increase the quality of the wood. The vacuum will help the drying to be faster and more perfectly done, especially for the wood that contains sap or oil. The vacuum process also helps the anti-fungal and anti-insect chemicals penetrate better into the wood. Wood has a structure like a sponge; when there is oil or sap in the wood, the wood would not be able to receive the other chemical solution. The vacuum process releases the sap and the oil from the wood to let the anti-insect and anti-fungal optimally fill the wood cells. Some vacuums are also equipped with the equipment to let the preservative solution be forced deep into the wood under high pressure.