david weaver
I'd guessed the same thing. The baking part (wood that I've purchased) is done with already straight wood to my knowledge. Even after that is finished, the wood is steamed again to prevent it from being too brittle (the kind of brittle that some very old wood gets to).

I hadn't seen nor heard of any of this the first time that I saw that japanese wood press and figured aside from the fact that it probably weighs 6 tons, I wouldn't mind having something around that could make every cupped or twisted board flat again.

These days, I think I'd rather just have more stable stock, though.

The older documents regarding stabilization of lower quality building lumber were fairly interesting, though, insofar as they hold some key values that someone like me would look for in paying even an extra penny for any guitar woods that have been "torrefied".