Studies on wood gluing

Summary

The purpose of this paper was to clarify the gluability and adhesion mechanism of polypropylene as a hot melt wood adhesive for plywood bonding. The gluability of plywood glued with nonpolar and modified polypropylene satisfied approximately the specification of the Japan Agricultural Standard, Designation Types 1 and 2. The moisture content (8 to 25 %) of the core veneer had no recognizable effect on gluability. The durability of polypropylene and that of modified polypropylene were the same as that of melamine-formaldehyde resin. Molten polypropylene made good contact with veneer surface, and penetrated into the lumina of wood cells and other spaces. In the separated glue lines, casts of glue which had penetrated into the vessels had many mushroom-like projections which had filled the bordered pit cavities. It was indicated that the anchoring effect of polypropylene which had penetrated into various wood elements and spaces in the veneer contributed dominantly to the gluability.