ADHESIVE PENETRATION IN LAMINATED OIL PALM TRUNK VENEER

This study investigated the bond formation of formaldehyde adhesives impregnated into laminated oil palm trunk (OPT) veneer. Adhesives used for the study were phenol formaldehyde (PF) and urea formaldehyde (UF). The adhesive penetration was determined through effective penetration, average penetration and maximum penetration at different hot pressing temperatures (125 and 130 °C for PF, 115 and 125 °C for UF), OPT portions (top and bottom) and OPT veneer parts (outer and inner). In general, adhesive penetrations using PF and UF adhesives were significantly different between veneer parts, hot pressing temperatures and portions. These results showed that temperature and porosity of veneer surfaces influenced adhesive penetration.