Effect of Water Immersion on Wood Properties of Machilus pauhoi

Wood samples were collected from one dead tree of 60-year Machilus pauhoi caused by heavy snow in 2008 in Jiande, Zhejiang province. They were treated by air dry and water immersion. Determinations were conducted on physio-mechanical properties and wood color. The results showed that the density and hardness of M. pauhoi wood treated by water immersion increased significantly, and the wood structure was more compact. The water immersion had little effect on shrinkage, but tangential and volume swelling significantly decreased, the radial and tangential swelling was similar, and the dimensional stability of wood was significantly improved. The hue, lightness and color saturation of water immersed wood decreased by chromaticity space, and the L* and a* in L*a*b* chromaticity space decreased slightly, and the range of a* decreased, and b*increased, the wood color of water immersed samples changed from light to dark, and changed to yellow.