<em>ACACIA</em> <em>MANGIUM</em> FROM SAB AH FOR PLYWOOD AND DECORATIVE PANEL MANUFACTURE: INITIAL TRIALS

Abstract

Acacia mangium could be peeled and sliced easily. Decorative panel with A. mangium sliced veneer as face appeared to be attractive. Phenolic bonded plywood made with rotary cut A. mangium veneers met the performance requirement for weather-boil-proof (WBP) grade. However, the bond quality of A. mangium plywood using urea formaldehyde adhesive was found to be poor. At 15 years of age, the logs were too small to be economically peeled using existing lathes tailored for peeling big_tropical hardwood logs. The small size of the logs, of which some were of poor form, resulted in low recovery rate. Trees for plywood production should be bigger and in better form.