"Dan Bollinger" wrote in news:25-
:

Fred, here is what the FPL says, thought it would add to the
discussion:

Solvent Seasoning

The solvent seasoning process involves subjecting the wood

to a spray or continuous immersion in either hot acetone or a

similar solvent miscible with water for a number of hours

until most of the water is extracted from the wood. The

solvent is removed by steaming or with a vacuum. Additional

water is removed at the same time.

Although solvent seasoning has not been applied to eastern

U. S. hardwoods, extensive research has been done in California

on using this method to dry tanoak sapwood. For 4/4

lumber, drying time is as short as 30 h. A few pieces of

lumber have suffered streaks of collapse, probably because

of the presence of heartwood or bacterial infection.



Dan


Tanoak seems to be pretty susceptible to streaks of collapse, no matter
what you do to it. One reason that it is a limited market hardwood...

Pretty, though, in the right hands.

Patriarch, with a hundred board feet of the stuff in his flatwood
racks...