Saturday, 30 November 2013

Eco Materials - 2

Looking at the material options for wood, I decided to make a list of pros and cons for each to see what would work best. 

MDF
- This material was recommend, from a man who works with wood for a living
- MDF stands for Medium-density fibreboard
formed by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres
no tendency to split
MDF has no grain it can be cut, drilled, machined and filed without damaging the surface
Needs to be formaldehyde free


there is Formaldehyde free MDF called - Medite Ecologique and instead of a formaldehyde based glue it uses an MDI Glue to bind the fibbers together. 

Medite Ecologique
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/products/wood-panels-and-boards/medite-ecologique/
no wood product can be entirely formaldehyde free
reuseable and recyclable
http://www.medite-europe.com


Caberwood MDF
- Has the benefits of timber without the natural defects.
- Designed for interior applications that may be subject to occasional wetting or exposure to humidity

MDF seems to not be suitable for the paint pot design, useless it was lined with something to protect it.   


Plywood
plywood may come from FSC certified sources
A type of plywood called Marine – this is the type of plywood to use when you need it to be moisture resistant.  This type of plywood uses the best glues and is the best manufactured.
-Strength

- Durability
- Lightness
- Rigidity
- Resistance to splitting and warping
- Its ability to be shaped into different forms
- Comes in standard sizes
- Is very cost efficient


Intrallam
- made in a similar way to MDF
- There seems to be a long process to get the material ready for use - however the bark is burned and the heat is used to make the energy for the process
strands are produced by flaking logs, and are then joined together
isocynate based resin (polyurethane) is used to bind the material together
Intrallam is also know as LSL – it is manufactured from Aspen (a small amount of maple and birch is sometimes mixed in)
Aspen is a rapid growth self-regenerating poplar with a 40-50 year life cycle.
The second plant uses yellow poplar, a widely available under-utilised species
Significant quantity are consumed as scaffold planks.
- Other uses are rails for windows and doors as well as is table tops.
is certified for use in France, UK, Japan, and Australia, and, of course, in North America 
produce high grade structural product from low density species, it is necessary to uniformly densify the raw material.
The first Intrallam (LSL) plant was put in production in 1991 in Deerwood, Minnesota. Species used are Aspen and small amount of similar low valued trees.
- The name stands for 'Laminated Strand Lumber' (LSL)
- Currently is widely used material 
- is it water proof http://www.forum-holzbau.ch/pdf/sharp_95.pdf - Page 6 and 8


Timber.
- can come from old-growth forests or plantations - has to be requester
is a renewable source
- biodegradable
- the product Intrallam, is made from 100% recycled soft timber
- the point above makes me think that the product should be made out of Intrallam, this will cut down the about of wast timber, as well as other wood that may not be utilised  


From the video I decide to look into
Strawboard
We have plenty of straw available here in the UK, total straw production is 10 Million tonnes per year of that around 40% is unused or returned to the soil
- 'Envirowall' has started sell this product in the UK and other eco products 
The low energy manufacturing process mixes natural straw (97%) with zero formaldehyde resin (3%)
Strawboard is 100% recyclable and biodegradable and does not incorporate any harmful substances
Finish options are limitless and include foil wrapping, melamine, laminate and water based spray applications.
- uses MDI glue to bond it 
- good alternate to MDF
- made from waste
- bi product
- recycle
-could be a problem making it date proof, so is able to hold the paint 
http://www.envirowall.net/downloads/Envirowall-Brochure.pdf


This lead me to look at Hemp Board
- The outer edge is made from wood finer and the centre is hemp
- car doors have been made using it
- instead of cutting down lots of trees this method can be done with a crop in a field - which is faster growing
- can be made with a eco friendly MDI glue
- light 
- fast growing
- strong
- can be used to make plastic ?
- stronger than strawboard and MDF
Hemp is also moisture resistant and a natural fire retardant
- One of England’s oldest crops


Then Hardwood
- Also called high-density fiberboard (HDF)
Tempered hardboard is hardboard that has been coated with a thin film of linseed oil and then baked; this gives it more water resistance, impact resistance, hardness, rigidity
- recycling can be limited
- no grain 
- can be glued in
popular among acrylic and oil painters as a painting surface due to its economical price but it must be coated with gesso or canvas before use.





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