Data from: Physical properties and bonding quality of laminated veneer lumber produced with veneers peeled from small-diameter rubberwood log

The peeling of small diameter rubber logs from the current short-rotation practices, undoubtedly will produced lower-grade veneers compared to the veneers from the conventional planting rotation. Hence, this raises the question of the properties of the produced laminated veneer lumber (LVL) from veneers peeled from small diameter rubber logs using spindleless lathe technology. Different thickness of rubberwood veneers were peeled from rubber logs with diameter less than 20 cm using spindleless lathe. Three layer LVLs were prepared using phenol formaldehyde (PF) adhesive and hot pressed at different temperature. During the peeling of veneer, lathe checks as deep as 30 to 60% of the veneer thickness are formed. This study showed that deep lathe check of 3 mm rubberwood veneer significantly reduced the gluebond shear strength of PF bonded LVL. In addition, lathe checks frequency were also shown to influence bond strengths. The presence of higher lathe check frequency on 2 mm veneer increased the wettability, thus, facilitated optimum penetration of adhesive for stronger bonding. These findings stress the importance of measuring and considering the lathe check depth and frequency during lamination process to get a better understanding of bonding quality in veneer-based products.