Wood drying is an indispensable first production process in furniture manufacturing, which is the consensus of the industry.
The drying of tropical and subtropical high-quality hardwood is a worldwide recognized technical problem, and there is no shortcut to find so far. Zhongshan Dayong, Shaxi and Sanxiang are located in the core cluster area of the Pearl River Delta rosewood furniture industry belt. Modern wood drying techniques can be used to implement centralized drying.
However, in the whole country, small enterprises are mainly used. Therefore, the drying of sawn timber of tropical hardwood in small batch, multi specification and multi species has become an urgent technical issue for the rosewood furniture industry in terms of drying methods, drying equipment and drying technology
At present, all kinds of wood drying methods in the world have their own technological characteristics and have certain pertinence to wood. In this article, we will discuss the wax boiling process separately. At present, in the drying industry, there are two different views on the wax boiling process.
What is the boiling wax technique?
Wax boiling technology is a technology to control the cracking and deformation of log furniture after the internal structure of wood is drained and finalized. A protective film will be formed inside and on the surface of the wood after wax boiling to prevent the adverse effects of the external environment on the wood. With the passage of time, as well as the climatic conditions in different regions, the log furniture after waxing remains natural and original.
The wood drying process in wax liquid started in 1868 in Europe As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, the manufacture and preservation of bronze ware was completed through the “wax loss method”. And the wax stamping process, which can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, is an ancient technique handed down by the ancestors to prevent wood from cracking and deformation and protect and moisten furniture.
Before the reform and opening up, Mr. He Dinghua, an older generation in the drying industry in China and a member of the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences, had done process tests in Beijing Wood Factory. In the traditional furniture industry, Mr. Gu Yongqi of Nantong City was the first to apply it to the drying of Lu’s ebony after the reform and opening up. He told me personally that he paid more than two million yuan for the process test. Two years ago, in our industry, in a large enterprise, I saw a wax melting pool with at least 8m3 box volume and steam heating. In the national standard General Technical Conditions for Rosewood Furniture implemented on August 1 this year, it is required that the paraffin in the water repellent solution should meet the technical requirements for food grade paraffin.
Wood sealing?
The rosewood wax boiling technology, as its name implies, is to boil the wood after splitting into wax. The boiled wood must be completely soaked in wax. However, today’s wax boiling process does not use beeswax.
Most of it uses industrial wax extracted and synthesized from petroleum. It is a white solid at room temperature, with a melting point of 50~70 ℃ and a boiling point of 300~550 ℃. Seeing its melting point and boiling point, it is not difficult to find that industrial wax can become liquid if the temperature is slightly higher, and wood can be put into it.
When the temperature is heated to the boiling point of the water in the wood (100 ℃ under normal pressure), it is far from the boiling point of the wax. The water in the wood vaporizes from the surface to the interior, and the wax seeps into the wood to replace the water, so the wax boiling is also called “wax water replacement”. There are also vacuum pumping to accelerate water separation. The basic principle is the same as “fried chicken legs” and “fried fried sticks”. Wax boiling is to replace oil with paraffin and food with wood.
Therefore, a considerable part of the boiled rosewood is the weight of wax. The wax boiling equipment will put 1.5 tons of wax into the wood for one cooking, which will consume nearly 200 jin, most of which will be replaced into the wood. After the wax boiling process, the wood properties (internal stress) of the rosewood wood are broken, and the internal tubular pore structure is also blocked, basically losing the change of temperature rise and drying shrinkage, so it can be extremely stable and permanent.
Supporter’s point of view
Wax cooking is a kind of progress.
The wood treatment can keep pace with the times.
After the modern furniture technology revolution, there is no need to be trapped in the tradition.
Color change of Chinese fir: The wax boiled on the left and the wax boiled on the right sealed the wood. Whether hardwood or non hardwood, it can insulate the wood, and is no longer affected by the changes in external ambient temperature and humidity. It is difficult for the wood to expand or shrink. “A hundred years of wind and rain will not shrink a dime”, and there is no worry about pumping, swelling, cracking and deformation.
It is convenient to live in the north, and the weather is dry
When the floor is warm, I start to worry about my mahogany furniture. I don’t have the energy to wipe wax and oil. Wax boiling is the long-term solution for furniture. It basically doesn’t need maintenance, and it is more convenient and simple. Good furniture cooked with wax can keep a tight fit, and the color is deeper and the polishing is finer. These are advantages. Why not take them?
The negative side
Wax boiling is a shame of “rosewood”. The viewpoint is as follows:
The formation of wood is a process of absorbing carbon dioxide, fixing carbon and releasing oxygen, which is conducive to improving the ecological environment, regulating indoor temperature and humidity, adjusting people’s psychological sense, and can extend human life. This is the most perfect characteristic that nature has endowed wood and given wood to human beings through long-term evolution.
However, when the material needs are met to some extent, human beings are no longer willing to obtain wood by accident, and are unwilling to simply rely on nature and wood, and try to give their will to all things in nature.
Nowadays, the rosewood wax boiling skill is to put the wood into wax to boil after cutting. During the process of soaking and boiling, the water and oil in the wood are extracted. Instead, the wax permeates into the wood, changing the nature of the log.
After the wood is sealed by boiling wax without flavor
The wood surface will not have the texture and temperature of natural trees, nor the warm temperament and flavor. Instead, it will be a “fire”. The industrial wax used has long covered the unique smell of natural wood, making the “living wood” lose its breath and become a boring “dead wood”! We will never accept wax cooking.
It is used to make furniture without the beauty and texture of solid wood. What’s the meaning of synthetic wood and plastic? What’s more, can the waxed mahogany furniture still be coated? Even if it is rubbed out, can it be compared with the wrapping naturally formed by uncooked old furniture? If you are engaged in wax cooking, don’t mention that you are playing mahogany!
The traditional drying method is not good for wood itself.
It depends on more natural time and temperature to make the wood reach the balance of water content, which usually takes half a month or more. If the rosewood is treated by “boiling wax”, it may be dried in three or four days. In fact, it fundamentally damages the wood fiber, and the damage to the wood reduces the toughness of the wood.
The original internal structure becomes fragile, and the repairability is much lower. And even if the furniture doesn’t seem to have any problems after waxing, what will happen in 10, 20, or 100 years? After all, hardwood furniture is not only used for one generation, but wants to be inherited. Just because of this, the effect of “wax cooking” still needs to be tested.
Some businesses make profits by boiling wax
Because the color of the wood will change after the wax is boiled, some businesses with crooked ideas will “confuse the fish with the pearl”, sell inferior products as high-quality goods, and sell Li Gui as Li Kui.
Wax boiling is harmful to the health of users
It is difficult to ensure the quality and safety of industrial wax used in wax boiling. It is impossible for the terminal party to know what kind of chemicals are soaked in the furniture. If you encounter that kind of cheap wax containing harmful substances, your health will inevitably be affected after long contact.
In our mahogany furniture industry, there is a saying that “furniture is alive.”
The finished products of classical furniture are connected by mortise and tenon, with the support as the column and the frame as the beam. This structure determines the shaping and safety of our furniture. This kind of extensibility is generally called “rosewood furniture can breathe”
The wood can be dried normally. In this way, we adhere to the natural nature of wood. Don’t we buy furniture for natural and environmental protection?
