Vacuum pressure treatment of water-soluble melamine resin impregnation for improvement of dimensional stability on softwoods

To measure the dimensional stability of three softwoods by vacuum pressurization of water soluble melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin impregnation process, properties of resin treated compressed woods (compregs) were measured after impregnating the water soluble MF resin into three coniferous wood species for different impregnation times and resin concentrations. As the resin concentration was higher and impregnation time was longer, coefficients of volumetric shrinkage and anti-volumetric swelling efficiency increased, but coefficients of volumetric swelling, anti-volumetric swelling efficiency and absorption decreased. Also, weight percent gain increased remarkably as the resin concentration was high, but there was no uniform relationship with impregnation time.