Green finger jointing is increasingly becoming a proven possibility with three main technological processes, the New Zealand Greenweld process, the US soybean-based adhesive process and the urethane-based adhesive process. This project evaluates only the urethane gluing system by assessing drying degrade and mechanical performance of green-glued finger-jointed material after drying. The New Zealand Greenweld and the US soybean-based adhesive process will be studied in a subsequent investigation.
This study shows that drying degrade in green-glued finger-jointed material is not as serious as first thought. The results also demonstrate that the mechanical properties of this material are in the range of SPS 1 requirements and that green finger-jointing material, such as black spruce and balsam fir, could at least be used to produce stud grade lumber.