Effect of Planing on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Sugar Maple Wood

Matched specimens of sugar maple wood were prepared using two types of planing machines, a conventional planer, and a fixed-knife pressure-bar planer. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC), swelling in all principal directions, and the compliance coefficient in radial compression were measured after adsorption and desorption experiments. Two specimen sizes were used for these experiments. The results showed that conventional planing affected the superficial layer, and a significant negative effect on the EMC and swelling behavior of sugar maple after a cycle of moisture adsorption-desorption existed. No differences were found between planing methods for the radial compliance coefficient. These findings are in agreement with earlier results showing a negative effect of conventional planers on the superficial layer of wood. We confirmed that less affected properties could be obtained using the fixed-knife pressure-bar method. Finally, the EMC and the radial compliance coefficient, but not the swelling, were slightly affected by the specimen size