An essentially 100% solids, single-component, UV curable, low-viscosity, penetrating sealant composition for wood substrates and other porous substrates is prepared from an acrylate-methacrylate mixture, a functionalized resin, an unsaturated fatty acid triglyceride oil, and a photoinitiator. The sealant composition may further contain a metal catalyst, an amine synergist, fillers, pigments, dyes, flow and leveling additives, air release chemicals, UV absorbers, hindered amine light stabilizers, fungicides, insect repellents, and/or mold inhibitors. The sealant composition exhibits fast cure times along with resistance to degradation.

An essentially 100% solids, single-component, UV curable, low-viscosity, penetrating sealant composition for wood substrates and other porous substrates is prepared from an acrylate-methacrylate mixture, a functionalized resin, an unsaturated fatty acid triglyceride oil, and a photoinitiator. The sealant composition may further contain a metal catalyst, an amine synergist, fillers, pigments, dyes, flow and leveling additives, air release chemicals, UV absorbers, hindered amine light stabilizers, fungicides, insect repellents, and/or mold inhibitors. The sealant composition exhibits fast cure times along with resistance to degradation.

An aqueous boric acid/urea dispersion includes insoluble boric acid particles having a median particle size range of less than 44 microns and having a % actives content of boric acid plus urea of 60 wt. % or greater. The boric acid/urea dispersion includes an effective amount of at least one viscosity reducing agent such that the boric acid/urea dispersion has an initial Brookfield 2 rpm viscosity of about 5,000 to about 25,000 centipoise and a three week aged Brookfield 2 rpm viscosity of less than 250,000 centipoise, an optional amount of an alkali metal base, the alkali metal base/boric acid mole ratio in the dispersion ranging up to about 0.01; and the balance water. The boric acid/urea dispersion can be used in the manufacture of engineered wood products like oriented strand board as well as be a part of a waterborne coating formulation to coat wood products to improve fire retardancy.

Near InfraRed NIR technology, including NIR cameras and detectors, is used to accurately identify surface irregularities on a surface of a veneer sheet or other wood product. Based on the identified surface irregularities for a given wood product, one or more actions are taken with respect to wood product or production process to ensure the wood product is put to the most efficient, effective, and valuable use.

Near InfraRed NIR technology, including NIR cameras and detectors, and machine learning methods and systems, including one or more Machine Learning (ML) based surface irregularity prediction models, are used to accurately identify surface irregularities on a surface of a wood product, such as a veneer sheet or ribbon, and provide irregularity prediction data for the wood product. Based on the irregularity prediction data for a given wood product, one or more actions are taken with respect to wood product or the production process to ensure the wood product is put to the most efficient, effective, and valuable use.

Near InfraRed NIR technology, including NIR cameras and detectors, are used to detect irregularity in the surface of a wood product. Based on the detected irregularities at various locations in a given wood product, one or more actions are taken with respect to a production process used to produce the wood product to ensure the wood product is put to the most efficient, effective, and valuable use.

Disclosed are methods of protecting porous substrates and/or increasing the peel-resistance of coatings and stains for porous substrates. The methods may include providing a stain or coating comprising a microencapsulated self-healing material; and applying the stain or coating to a porous substrate. Damage to the stain or coating may release the self-healing material at a site of damage, such as a crack or scratch in the stain or coating. The self-healing material may be a polymeric precursor, an unsaturated polyester resin or alkyd, a fatty acid-based natural oil or derivative thereof, or a cross-linkable silane or siloxane monomer or resin. The microencapsulated self-healing material may include a microcapsule having a shell wall that includes a thermosetting polymer or a thermoplastic polymer; the thermosetting polymer may include urea-formaldehyde, melamine formaldehyde, polyurethane, polyurea, or polyacrylate; and the thermoplastic polymer comprises poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(lactic acid), or poly(glycolic acid).

The invention is a process including the steps of manufacturing of compreg laminated wood and transforming the wood thus obtained to ornamental and utility products, including steps of quality checking, veneer selection, Impregnation of veneer with solution of dye and thermosetting resin, drying in kiln, glue spreading followed by bunching, followed by cooling resulting in creation of slab, followed by trimming & cutting of slabs into strips of small sizes, shaping drawing on the sheet as per the profile required, shaping and profiling by CNC Router Machines, grinding and shaping by expert craftsman to bring out the color patterns, end rounding for smooth edges, grinding using various grits of emery wheels for surface finish, polishing/buffing for mirror like surface finish.

The invention is a process including the steps of manufacturing of compreg laminated wood and transforming the wood thus obtained to ornamental and utility products, including steps of quality checking, veneer selection, Impregnation of veneer with solution of dye and thermosetting resin, drying in kiln, glue spreading followed by bunching, followed by cooling resulting in creation of slab, followed by trimming & cutting of slabs into strips of small sizes, shaping drawing on the sheet as per the profile required, shaping and profiling by CNC Router Machines, grinding and shaping by expert craftsman to bring out the color patterns, end rounding for smooth edges, grinding using various grits of emery wheels for surface finish, polishing/buffing for mirror like surface finish.

In some examples, a method of manufacturing a densified wood transaction instrument includes boiling a sheet of wood in a chemical solution, compressing the boiled sheet of wood using a die in a press to form one or more features in the sheet of wood, during the compressing of the boiled sheet of wood, heating the boiled sheet of wood to create a sheet of densified wood, and attaching one or more payment elements to at least one of the one or more features formed in the sheet of densified wood to form a sheet of one or more densified wood transaction instruments.