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The paper presents the results of anexperimental study performed with black pine (Pinusnigra L.) and spruce (Picea abies L.) wood, originatingfrom mature trees and thinnings cut from the sameparcel from the Stroesti-Arges region in Romania.After air drying and conditioning, the defect-freetest boards were cut into standard 20x20x60mmsamples for the compression test. The compressionstrength was measured and the rupture mode incompression was analyzed.Therefore, the sampleswere first dried to oven-dry state, then heat-treated athigh temperatures (180 and 200ºC) for 1, 2, 3 and 4hours. Sets of 10 samples from each wood species,wood assortment and treating regime were tested.The obtained results were comparativelyanalyzed for the two species (pine vs. spruce) and forthe two wood assortments (mature wood vs, thinwood). Then they were also expressed relatively tothe mass loss, considered to be the main indiactor ofthe degradation suffered by wood during the heattreatment.A graph was drawn for each species andassortment in order to establish the optimum treatingregime, considering the correlated influence of theheat treatment conditions upon all three analyzedproperties (mass loss, dimensional stability andcompression strength).The results of the present research are to bevalorized at the manufacturing of solid wood panelsmade from heat-treated lamellas.

Sessile oak from young trees represents asecondary resource with potential for superiorapplications in furniture panels providing theirdimensional stability to variations of relative airhumidity is reduced. A possibility to improve thisproperty was examined in this paper, by thermaltreatment of the raw material before manufacturingdecorative furniture panels with transversal grain.Panels with crosscut grain were manufactured fromboth heat treated and untreated wood and theirproperties were compared: dimensional changewith climate, the moisture content at equilibrium, theabsolute density, colour and their MOE and MOR.The results have shown that the thermaltreatment at 130ºC for 2h of sessile oak from youngtrees has improved the dimensional stability and theequilibrium moisture content of the panels and didnot impair their mechanical strength. The colour gotslightly darker and density had an almost negligibledecrease by the heat treatment. Attractive bydesign, because of their grain orientation, but in thisway subjected to axial stresses perpendicular to thegrain, the panels could be used in furnitureapplications where the bending stresses are notcritical.