Assessment of surface finishing quality of Kelempayan (Neolamarckia cadamba) wood for furniture components

Kelempayan (Neolamarckia cadamba) is a fast-growing plantation species with increasing potential for Malaysia’s furniture sector. Despite its advantages of rapid growth and light colour, its relatively may challenge finishing processes, especially in achieving high-quality coated surfaces due to low density and coarse texture. This study examines the influence of different abrasive papers and finishing systems on the surface quality of Kelempayan wood (Neolamarckia cadamba). The sawn timbers were conventionally kiln dried to 12% moisture content before being cut to end size. Then, the samples were sanded using two different types of abrasive papers which are silicon carbide and aluminum oxide. Two finishing systems were then applied which involved System 1 (applying a single coat of varnish following sanding) and System 2 (two cycles of sanding and varnishing). After that, three types of finishing testing were conducted to assess the surface finishing quality of the samples. The finishing tests were the pencil hardness test, adhesion tape (cross-cut test) and surface roughness test. Sixty samples in all were prepared and tested. The results indicated that both abrasive paper and the finishing system variables highly influenced the surface quality of samples. The application of aluminum oxide paper resulted in better performance of pencil hardness and surface roughness tests than those sanded with silicon carbide. Finishing System 2 also provided a similar pattern of results, which improved the toughness, and the surface roughness was reduced to 0.38 μm compared to System 1. In the cross-cut adhesion test, both variables provided good coat adhesion, with less than 5% to no flaking. Overall, it can be concluded that the combination of aluminum oxide abrasive paper and multicoat finishing can greatly improve the durability and surface appearance of Kelempayan for furniture components.