Forced air-drying of cross-cut disks from small-diameter logs of Quercus variabilis

Cross-cut disks from small diameter oak logs were thermally modified and developed to make accessories such as a brooch. However it is known that domestic oaks are refractory and it is hard to dry their cross-cut disks without any drying defects. The cross-cut disks of Quercus variabilis (7 mm long in the longitudinal direction) were forced to dry in air at two different air velocities in summer and fall season, and their drying yields were investigated. Under the same condition, the average final moisture contents (MCs) of the specimens dried in the fall were lower than those dried in the summer. The average final MCs of the small diameter specimens dried at higher air velocity were slightly lower than those at lower air velocity while those of the large diameter specimen were not influenced by the air velocity. The number of the large diameter specimens with cross checkings was higher than that of the small diameter specimen. This discrepancy between two different diameters was twice in the fall, while it was more than four times in the summer. The large diameter specimens dried at low air velocity in Summer were cross-checked most, which was attributed to repeated water condensation and evaporation due to high humidity and low air velocity.