Measurement of bonding strength of pine, kapur and meranti wood species as function of their surface quality

The objective of this experimental study was to evaluate bonding strength of specimens from widely used three species, pine (Pinus strobus), kapur (Dryobalanops spp.) and meranti (Shorea spp.) as they were sanded with different grits of sandpapers. Surface quality of control samples and those sanded with 80, 100 and 240 grit sandpapers was determined using a stylus type equipment. Control samples of both hardwood species resulted in less smoother surface values when they were sanded with 80 grit sandpaper. Rougher surface quality of the samples had higher bonding values as compared to those of control specimens as well as those sanded with 100 and 240 grits. Based on the findings in this work, the stylus method can have a potential to evaluate surface roughness of these specimens to have a better understanding of overall bonding quality of such species so that they can be used more effectively for different applications.