A sticker for spacing
wood drying kilns products apart vertically in a dry kiln is formed as an elongated, hollow, internally reinforced extruded rectangular profile of synthetic resin reinforced with glass fiber. The internal reinforcement is provided by one or more reinforcing webs that extend between the top and bottom peripheral walls of the rectangular profile. The preferred extrusion is made of a mixture of polycarbonate resin, polysulfone resin and 20-40% by weight glass fiber. The peripheral wall thickness of the rectangular profile ranges between about 0.0625 inch and 0.125 inch. The external width of the rectangular profile ranges between about 1 inch and 3 inches, preferably about 1.5 inches. The external height of the rectangular profile ranges between about 0.25 inch and 1.25 inches, preferably between about 0.625 inch and 1 inch. The length of the sticker ranges between about 4 feet and 9 feet.
The
wood dry kilns spacing sticker of claim 3 wherein the glass fiber-reinforced synthetic resin mixture includes about 35% by weight polycarbonate resin, about 35% by weight polysulfone resin and about 30% by weight glass fiber.
Stickers are normally about 1.5 inches wide, from 0.625 inch to 1 inch thick and either 4 feet or 8-9 feet long. The length depends upon whether a crib or unit stacking technique is used. Stickers are laid perpendicularly across each layer of lumber by automatic sticking machines or by hand, with spaces between the stickers of about 2-3 feet. The number of stickers employed for a typical stack of lumber for dry kiln drying thus may total over 1,000. The total weight on the bottom layer of stickers can exceed 60,000 pounds, yielding compressive stresses exceeding 1,600 PSI.
the
wood dry kilns spacing sticker of claim 1 wherein the external width ofthe rectangular profile ranges between about 1 inch and 3 inches and the external height ranges between about 0.25 inch and 1.25 inches.
