Sengon wood for furniture

Sengon wood (Albazia Falcataria) is considered as a cheap wood but lot of used in the woodworking industry.  The sengon  tree is fast growing when it is planted in suitable climate areas. The sengon wood can be cut at age 10 to 15 years, much more shorter then the other wood. Since that reason, this wood is one of the favorite wood by tree farmers. The sengon wood can grow optimally in the tropical area in the level of 0 to 800 m above sea level, although it still can grow in higher place (1500 m above sea level).

The sengon wood is soft and  does have not good grain looked, but it is light, durable, resistant to the insect attack. It can be screwed, nailed or bored easily. It is good substrate to be used as support material in the furniture manufacturers. It is good substrate to make the drawer box, the inner wall, bare core, filler or support on the inside of a furniture product.
It also can be used as cores for a veneer to make plywood on the wide panels. It can be laminated as a core for  slice to replace the solid to make the wood looked. It is light and easy to be handled so it can be good alternative to replace the m.d.f. of particle board.

The physical properties of the sengon wood.
1. The density                                      :  0,2 to 1,28 Kg/ M
2. Resistant to the insect attacked    : high
3. Color                                                 : white to light red brown. 

The more about properties of sengon wood can be viewed in : Sifat-sifat kayu dan penggunaannya

Finishing for sengon wood.

Even it is considered as cheap wood with no beautiful grain, but sometime it also be used as the face part in the furniture product. It is also sliced to make plywood and veneer.  With the proper finish it still can show “ wood looked” which is still better option then the m.d.f. or particle board. But it need a proper finishing according to get the "good" wood looked. The finishing for sengon wood is quite difficult since it is soft and vogue veneer character. To get the good result we need to understand the wood character and choose the proper process and material.

The dark brown or light brown transparent finish is the most used for this wood. It has light color so actually it can be stained and colored to make any color.  The open pores clean and simple finish  or antique looked  finish is mostly found.  The high gloss full closed finish is almost never used for this wood. It does not has good grain to be performed  in the high gloss finish looked. The solid color is also can be applied for this wood. The solid color in many color with simple looked or antique looked is also good option for this wood.

Sengon wood is a soft and porous wood, it will absorb a lot of finishing materials, so we better use the high solid content clear coat. The water based coating, PU or AC is better alternative then NC clear coating. The stain application also should be done carefully. It has high porosity, "too wet stain application" tend to making the dark and blotchy color since its high absorption. The application by brushed or wiping or even wet spray, should be avoided. The stain should be applied by medium wet spray to avoid the risk of blotchy color. The thick wood stain also should be avoided since its risk to the blotchy and uneven color. The light stain is the best choice since its minimize the risk of the blotchy color. If necessary we can spray wood stain with more layer to make the dark color.
The sengon wood is also relatively difficult to be sanded. It is soft and has and lot of wood fibers. The wood tend to bind and attached on the sandpaper and blunt the sandpaper. To get the good result, the sanding process must  be done correctly. Use the sandpaper from the low grade to the high grade sequential to make the effective sanding. Replace the sandpaper when it is already blunt or filled with the wood fibers. The glue sizing or sealer sizing is also good option to better preparing for this wood. An application of sealer or glue will help to raise and stiffen the wood fibers and make them easy to be cut off in the sanding process. It  will help the sanding process to make smooth and even surface.