This issue 'essentialARB's1 new regular contributor Rob Dyer looks at drying wood. I'd just like to start by saying that I'm not an expert and this article is just to give a solid base from which to start. When wood is cut 'green' it contains a lot ofwater. In fact it has been estimated a cubic metre of freshly felled oak can contain 540 litres of water! This water is held in the cellular structure of the wood. The water in the cell walls is known as 'bound' water, while that held in the cell cavities is 'free' water. As soon as your wood is cut the free water from the cell cavities will begin to evaporate. Although this causes the wood to lose weight it doesn't cause much shrinkage. When all the free water has gone and only bound water remains this is known as the 'fibre saturation point'.
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