Today, a majority of the pre-commercial thinning (PCT) cut birch stems in Sweden are retained on the site for biodegradation, since their market value is lower than the cost of harvesting. Some stems are removed as firewood. The uses of the PCT material can be difficult to find, and the costly PCT is carried out in expectation of greater returns later in the forest rotation. There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the possibility of using a low-value wooden material for furniture and interior purposes. While some research has been carried out on character-marked wood, there have been few investigations on the utilization of small-dimensioned roundwood. However, proper utilization of this material requires appropriate matching of the material attributes with the end user’s expectations on furniture or joinery products. The aim of this work is to understand challenges and possibilities for the utilization of small-dimensioned roundwood birch in furniture and joinery products. The study synthesizes the literature on customers’ demands on hardwood and important material properties. A case-study approach was used to evaluate how a bench, made out of small-dimensioned roundwood birch, can meet the requirements from customers and manufacturing industries. The results demonstrate that opportunities exist within the customer segment appealed by naturalistic furniture design. Proposals are made for future research needed for successful use of small-dimensioned roundwood birch for furniture applications.
Keywords: betula, customer requirements, furniture material
Authors
Nilsson J.
Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnaeus University, Växjö
Johansson J.
Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnaeus University, Växjö
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