Hardwood sawmill residues have traditionally not been favoured by the particleboard industry
(or indeed other forest product industries) owing to their high density and extractives
content. However, re-growth and plantation of timber industry has been producing hardwood
saw mill residues with lower extractive contents and lower densities in recent years.
The work presented here deals with investigating the use of hardwood saw mill residue,
which is currently treated as solid waste, in producing industry-grade particleboard. A
crossed experimental design covering seven process parameters with two levels was performed
to manufacture three-layer particleboards in the laboratory to investigate effects
of processing parameters on physical and mechanical properties of final boards. Although,
resin surface and pressing time are significantly influencing both mechanical and physical
properties of hardwood particleboard, moisture core increases the thickness swelling and
reduces the mean density. However, the need for higher moisture content and resin load
compared to those of softwood particleboard need to be addressed further to achieve an
economically feasible product.