Kekabu is a trade name of Bombax ceiba L. wood, which is popularly known as kapok or randu wood. It is formerly named Gossampinus malabarica DC. Merr. and belongs to family Bombacaceae. In some area kekabu wood is mixed in consignments that are mainly comprising wood of Durio spp. and traded as 'durian wood'. Kekabu's heartwood is not clearly demarcated with its white yellowish sapwood. Wood texture is smooth and even, so that clean yellowish kekabu wood appearance is potentially developed as luxury timber. However, kekabu is a lightweight wood. The average density is about 0.30 g/ cm' that ranges from 0.12 to 0.51 g/cm3 (Oey, 1990). Due to its low density, kekabu wood has not been utilised as furniture as well as construction materials, making it traded cheaply in local market (Ba and Nghia Tin, 1998). Density is the weight of substances per unit of volume. In this case, wood density is the weight of wood cell components that build wood structure per unit of volume. It has a positive relation to the thickness of the wood cell wall and is influenced by variation in the relative proportions of different cell types and their dimensions in wood material (Koehler, 1924;Jane, 1970). In a piece of wood, for example, higher density wood has thicker cell walls.
Previous research findings have shown that the fast grown teak (JCT) has lower physical, mechanical and durability
ABSTRAKPenelitian sebelumnya menunjukkan karakteristik fisis, mekanis dan keawetan kayu jati cepat tumbuh (JCT) relatif lebih rendah dibanding kayu jati tradisional. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, perlakuan modifikasi kayu dapat dilakukan untuk meningkatkan kualitas jati tersebut. Penelitian ini bertujuan memperbaiki kualitas kayu JCT dan karet dengan perlakuan impregnasi ekstrak jati dan resin. Dalam penelitian ini dilakukan ekstraksi serbuk kayu jati tradisional dengan pelarut metanol. Larutan ekstrak tersebut kemudian diimpregnasi kedalam struktur kayu JCT dan karet dengan beragam konsentrasi menurut penambahan resin organik. Resin yang digunakan sebagai campuran dalam penelitian ini adalah sirlak dan damar, masing-masing dengan konsentrasi berat 4, 6 dan 8% dari volume ekstrak. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan perlakuan impregnasi larutan ekstrak jati terhadap kayu JCT dan karet mampu meningkatkan stabilitas dimensi kedua jenis kayu tersebut dengan nilai ASE lebih dari 50%, hingga setara dengan stabilitas dimensi jati tradisional. Penambahan resin sirlak maupun damar ke dalam larutan ekstrak jati secara nyata dapat lebih menyempurnakan stabilitas dimensi kayu JCT dan karet secara proporsional menurut konsentrasi resin.Kata kunci: Ekstrak kayu jati, sirlak, damar, stabilitas dimensi kayu 283
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