MACHINING PROPERTIES OF NATURAL REGENERATION AND PLANTED ACACIA MANGIUM x A. AURICULIFORMIS HYBRID

Machining properties of Acacia mangium x A. auriculiformis hybrid wood was evaluated in this study. Sawing, planing and boring tests were conducted to assess the machining properties of Acacia hybrid wood obtained from two different study sites, namely, mature natural regeneration and plantation-grown areas. For each study site, stressed and non-stressed trees were selected and felled at 15 cm above ground. Samples with dimensions of 20 mm x 100 mm x 900 mm were then prepared from three different height levels (top, middle, bottom) of the felled logs prior to machining test. The results showed that non-stressed wood generally had better sawing, planing and boring characteristics than stressed wood. In terms of height level, there was no significant difference between height levels and machining properties of the wood samples.