Density Assessment of Heat Treated Malaysian Hardwood Timber: The Case of Kapur (Dryobalanops spp.) and Keruing (Dipterocarpus spp.)

Heat treatment is one of the environmental friendly ways to treat timber that will lead to the improvement of timber natural quality and equip the timber with new properties. It is an eco friendly and alternative treatment method that will modify the properties of timber by using high temperature instead of using chemical preservatives as common practice. This paper presents the effect of heat treatment on physical properties which is density for two types of Malaysia hardwood namelykapurandkeruing. Specially design electronic furnace was used as an oven for the heat treatment process. The result shows a reduction in density after heat treatment, however the difference is not merely significant. Lower in density indicates a weight loss which theoretically caused by moisture content loss thus leading to the increment of movement stability.