DEGRADATION OF BOARDS OF EUCALYPTUS-GLOBULUS LABILL AND EUCALYPTUS-CAMALDULENSIS DEHNH DURING AIR-DRYING

Boards of E.globulus and E.camaldulensis were air dried, with the obje ctive to show that the available resources in Ethiopia can be utilized in a simple way without involvement of high technology. The degradati on of most of the boards after air drying was acceptable according to Australian Standards. Deformation values, often increased after condit ioning, could mostly be reduced to an acceptable level by planing. Na statistically significant relations could be shown between density and check formation. The density values of heartwood and sapwood are sign ificantly different in both species with the higher density in the sap wood. The re-sawing of the boards of E.camaldulensis along the pith ha s arrested the further check formation during drying, probably due to release of stresses. When planning air drying in Ethiopia, one should carefully select the dimensions of the wood and the conditions in whic h the material are exposed.