Timber Spice

When a tree is newly felled, it contains about 50% or more of its weight in the form of water. This water is in the form of juice and moisture. The water has to be removed before the wood can be used for any engineering purpose. In other words, the wood has to be dried. This process of drying wood is called wood spice,

notes to remember

Moisture should be removed during seasoning from all parts of the wood at the same rate as possible under controlled conditions.
The moisture that cannot be removed during seasoning is distributed evenly throughout the mass. If the drying is irregular, the shrinkage of the wood will also be irregular and this will set up internal tension between the fibers. When these stresses become excessive and are able to overcome the cohesion of the fibers, warping and shackles of wood are formed.
Wood is a hygroscopic material. The ability of wood to absorb water vapor from the air is called the hygroscopicity of wood. Dry wood absorbs moisture from the surrounding air. Now, the moisture content of the air is not constant and hence the moisture content of the wood also varies accordingly. Fluctuations in the moisture content of wood from zero to the fiber saturation point cause the same amount of changes in the wood to crack, warp, swell and shrink in the wood.
By the process of seasoning, the excess water from the wood is removed in such a way that the moisture content of the seasoned wood matches the required moisture content of the wood for the environment in which it is to be used.
Seasoned wood should be protected from exposure to rain and extremely high humidity.