Hardness and dimensional stability of thermally compressed domestic Korean pine

We conducted a thermal compression of domestic Korean pinewood for a use in flooring. For the evaluation of flooring material, we measured dimensional stability and surface hardness of thermally compressed wood. It is possible to make high-specific gravity woods with a range of 0.82-0.92 after the thermal compression with 50% compression set. The surface hardness increased with an increase in the pressing temperature. The highest value of surface hardness was 23.6 N/mm2, which was obtained from the thermal compressed wood with pressing temperature of 160°C and 30 minutes of pressing time. However, the surface hardness of woods treated at high temperature of 180°C or greater decreased. The recovery of thickness decreased with increasing the pressing temperature. For dimensional stability, compression temperature was more dominant than compression time.