Water based finishes

Water based finishes are becoming more and more popular with professional users and consumers because of the multitude of advantages they afford: absence of toxic emissions and unpleasant odors: ease of application: versatility: exceptional aesthetic results and, last but not least, the excellent chemical/physical resistance of the coating.

This is just a small part of the story, to find out more about water-based finishes, read our article click here.

PureBond - Formaldehyde free plywood

Until recently nearly all interior-grade plywood panels were made with urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin.

That reality has changed now that Columbia Forest Products (CFP) has made its transition to a new soy-based adhesive invented at Oregon State University (OSU). Soy-based adhesives have been in the works for a decade or more but until recently soy proteins could be used to replace only a portion of the more conventional adhesives.

That changed when Dr. Kaichang Li, associate professor at OSU, got inspired by the tenacity of mussels attached to rocks in ocean water and decided to investigate their secrets. He discovered that, by combining inexpensive soy protein with an amino acid, he could mimic the action of the mussels. Three patents and numerous trials later, Columbia is using the new binder.

This is just a small part of the story, to find out more about PureBond read our article click here.