Beech timber with high dimensional stability due to ideal moisture content
Beech timber is known for the fact that strong tension inside the boards can often cause twisting and thus problems in processing it or even while using the final products. Wood processors are talking about a "lack of stability" in such a case. It is caused by an uneven moisture content in the boards, which often occurs with conventionally dried beech timber. In order to produce beech timber which is especially non warping and provides for excellent stability, Pollmeier is using state-of-the-art drying technology: more than 100 kilns are only filled with beech boards of the same thickness, that have been stacked automatically in very uniform bundles. Turbulences in the air-current are avoided, because only square-edged beech boards are in the chambers: the current of hot air can flow evenly through the individual layers of the beech timber stacks. The technical process of drying is adjusted precisely to the individual wood stacks. Another Pollmeier specialty is the over-drying right down to 5-6% residual moisture content with a subsequent conditioning process (adding some steam again). This ensures that all the boards of the beech timber will eventually possess a homogeneous moisture content of 7-9% across the whole section of the board – which in turn is the reason for the non-twisting stability of Pollmeier beech timber.
The Pollmeier beech timber Colour tone
For many applications, wood processors nowadays need boards with a uniform colour in all thicknesses. Differences in the colour of individual boards will result in an unwanted zebra-effect in the final product, for example in furniture.
With its technically fully developed steaming process and a whole lot of experience, Pollmeier produces the basis for the technical drying as well as for the uniform, clearly defined, light-coloured tone „beech lightly steamed“. Greying of the boards, which does occur frequently with unsteamed beech timber, is prevented and all the boards get the same light colour – the Pollmeier beech colour tone. This colour tone has been matched to the standard colour of lightly steamed beech veneers, so that Pollmeier beech timber can easily be combined with veneers and final products of other manufacturers. In addition, steaming provides for a higher stability of the colour in the final products. When stacking the beech boards for the steaming and drying, Pollmeier uses aluminium strips rather than wooden ones to avoid residual stains on the boards.
Presanding the beech timber - for your reassurance
With ordinary beech timber, hidden defects in the boards are only discovered after processing. Only then, in fact, when it is already too late. Pollmeier, however, is presanding the beech timber. This enables us literally, to take a very close look into our boards and to grade them very precisely according to their individual quality. You will also profit from presanding, because you can see defects as well before working with the beech timber and in turn take them into consideration.