Hardwood from Softwood
The Product
Resin canal (click to enlarge)
Xylem (click to enlarge)
A standard sawmill can be retrofitted for the process in about six months, for around $800,000. Figures published last year suggest the process increases the value of softwood timber from around $320 to around $1880 per cubic metre.
Indurite-hardened pine has improved fire retardancy, and is 35 percent less responsive to changes in moisture content than untreated pine; and its strength, both in terms of elasticity and rupture, is better by 30 percent. This combination of qualities makes the treated timber ideal for flooring. Floorboards can be thin and wide, and while they are as dense as hardwood boards, they are stiffer, don't splinter and have good screw-holding characteristics, which makes them easier to lay.
In 2001, the FRI sold the patent for the process to Waiuku-based Engineered Wood Solutions. EWS's UK distributor, Nu Wood, has fitted more than 300 indurite floors to properties including more than 40 London apartments.
While flooring is the main market for Indurite timber, the potential for replacing expensive hardwoods in other applications is enormous. Fully 90 percent of the world's writing instruments are pencils; their sharpened points must be firmly supported, and so they are made from hardwoods. The amount of wood in one pencil isn't huge, but the cumulative market is; Euro Business magazine reported last year that EWS was in talks with one of the world's pencil giants about replacing hardwoods with Indurite-treated pine. Similarly, the handles on paintbrushes – another enormous market – are conventionally made from hardwoods.
