Drying characteristics and development of kiln drying schedules for the wood of Alstonia boonei, Antrocaryon micraster, Bombax buonopozense, Dialium aubrevillei and Sterculia rhinopetala

The susceptibility to drying defects and development of appropriate drying schedules was undertaken for the wood of five Ghanaian lesser used wood species: Alstonia boonei (Sinduro), Antrocaryon micraster,(Aprokuma), Bombax buonopozens (Akata), Dialium aubrevillei (Duabankye) and Sterculia rhinopetala (Wawabima). Susceptibility to checking is severe in D. aubrevillei and A. micraster and mild in S. rhinopetala, A. boonei and B. buonopozense. D. aubrevillei is mildly susceptible to honeycombing and deformation, while A. micraster, S. rhinopetala, A. boonei and B. buonopozense are not susceptible. The following experimental dry kiln schedules for lumber of thickness up to 38mm corresponding to the FPL Madison schedules are proposed: D. aubrevillei [T4-B1], A. micraster [T4-B2], S. rhinopetala [T10-C4], A. boonei [T10-D4 – Moderate, T11-D5 – Severe], and B. buonopozense [T10-F4 – Moderate, T11-F5 –Severe].