Treatments that enhance physical properties of wood

Abstract

This paper was prepared for anyone who wants to know more about enhancing wood’s physical properties, from the amateur wood carver to the president of a forest products company. The authors describe chemical and physical treatments of wood that enhance the strength, stiffness, water repellency, and stability of wood. Five types of treatments are described: 1. water- soluble polymers or synthetic resins that become insoluble after curing, 2. organic chemicals or cross-linking agents that bond cell wall polymers, 3. liquid monomers that polymerize in the lumen of wood cells, 4. compression of wood while heating or curing with resin, and 5. heat Treatment methods and properties and applications of treated woods are described in the text and summarized in a table. Though some of the chemical reactions described are complex, the language used to describe them is not. Several terms are defined in a glossary.

Keywords

Modified wood, Impreg, Compreg, PEG, Staypak, Staybwood, methyl methacrylate, epoxy resin, mechanical properties, dimensional stablilty

Citation

Rowell, Roger M.; Konkol, Peggy. 1987. Treatments that enhance physical properties of wood. Gen. Tech. Rep. FPL-GTR-55. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agricuiture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory; 12 p.