Wood Manufacturing Process

Whether you’re a seasoned woodworker or just starting out in the industry, it helps to understand how wood products are manufactured. Knowing the stages involved will help you make informed decisions about the wood products you use and make.

Sawmills turn logs into a wide range of wood products. As wood moves through the manufacturing process, its moisture content (MC) changes with the temperature and relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding air. Here’s how the process works.

Wood Manufacturing Transformation Process:

1. Head Rig: The primary saw cuts the log into sawn pieces.
2. Edging: Irregular edges and defects are removed from the sawn pieces.
3. Trimming: The trimmer squares off the ends of the lumber into uniform lengths based on market dimensions.
4. Rough Lumber Sorting: Pieces are sorted by dimension and by final product: unseasoned (known as green) or dry.
5. Stickering: Lumber destined for dry production is stacked with spacers (known as stickers) that let air circulate through the stack. (Green lumber skips this stage.)
6. Drying: Lumber is dried, usually in a kiln, to remove moisture down to a target moisture content.
7. Planing: The surface of each piece is smoothed, and its width and thickness are made uniform.
8. Grading: Each piece is assessed and assigned a grade based on its quality.

The success of wood manufacturing depends on the mill’s ability to maintain the wood’s quality throughout the process. Wood continually loses or gains moisture until it is in balance with its surroundings. The moisture content at that point is called the equilibrium moisture content (EMC), and it depends mainly on the relative humidity and temperature of the surrounding air.

Kiln drying works by controlling the EMC conditions inside the kiln, which means monitoring and controlling its relative humidity and temperature. A mill’s main job during kiln drying is to maintain the right drying conditions for the wood.

Moisture measurement technology is a vital part of modern lumber drying. Technicians monitor moisture management systems, and a number of manufacturers make moisture measurement systems for large lumber drying operations.

While controlling relative humidity and temperature in the kilns, lumber producers measure and monitor changes in the wood’s moisture content to avoid over-drying or under-drying it. These measurements can apply to a whole stack of wood in the kiln or to individual pieces that are spot-checked.

From the moment a log enters production until the lumber ships, manufacturers rely on moisture measurement and management systems to maintain quality in every piece the mill produces.

Free Download – How to Choose the Right Industrial Hand-held Moisture Meter for Your Mill

Moisture management starts with lumber drying at the mill. However, many consumers and builders mistakenly believe that moisture content concerns end once the wood ships from the mill.

Wood will keep losing and gaining moisture until it’s in balance with the surrounding conditions, so its moisture content needs to be measured and managed all the way to the installation site.

Learn more about Wagner Meters’ forest products and how they can help your mill.

Shop Industrial Wood Moisture Meters

Further Reading:

Wood Production: Manufacturing & Kiln Drying

Ron Smith

As Sales Manager for Wagner Meters, Ron has more than 35 years of experience with instrumentation and measurement systems in different industries.  In previous positions, he has served as Regional Sales Manager, Product and Projects Manager, and Sales Manager for manufacturers involved in measurement instrumentation.

Last updated on October 8th, 2026