53 – Modified Woods

Engineered Woods vs Modified Woods

Engineered woods are a destructive and additive process where you have to start with saw dust or some form thereof and then assemble it into your finished product like MDF, particle board, OSV, or even plywood.  Modified woods start with solid wood and add to it through a variety of modification processes like thermal, physical, chemical, or biological modification.

Regardless of the process used, modified woods seek to keep the best elements of wood and improve the bad parts.  Modified woods boast improvements like rot resistance, fire resistance, very little wood movement, greater hardness, and even color fastness.  Each process described in this episode has its own merits and like anything you need to consider your own needs to decide which product is best for your specific application.

• Andy writes in with some questions about Accoya
• Jeff asks about using Pentacryl to stabilize a slab
• Joshua asks about Torrified woods

Industry News

•  Lumber Futures took a big dive
• Check out this article on welding wood