Examination of usage performance of various finishing process materials on bamboo

In the study, wood protective varnishes, which are the most preferred in the market, were applied to bamboo (bambusa) material, whose commercial activities have just started in Turkey and which is alternative to wooden material, and some its finishing process characteristics were investigated. Cellulosic varnish, syntethic varnish, polyurethane varnish and water-based varnish were used as varnish types. Measurements of hardness, brightness, color change, layer thickness and surface roughness, respectively were made on materials on which finishing process was applied. The samples which were prepared out of bamboo material in accordance with the TS2470 standard for this purpose were coated by cellulosic, synthetic, polyurethane and water-based varnishes according to the principles of ASTM-D 3023. In varnished surfaces, surface hardness was determined according to ASTM-D 4366, surface gloss according to TS 4318, discoloration according to ASTM-D 2244-02, layer thickness according to ASTM D6132 and ISO 2808, and surface roughness according to ISO 4287. According to data obtained, in surface hardness measurements made after varnish was applied, surface hardness on varnishes, apart from polyurethane varnish, reduced when compared to control sample. In brightness values, up to three fold increase is seen when compared to control samples. In color measurement values, the varnish type which approximated sample surfaces to colors of yellow and red was synthetic varnish. In color brightness value, a decrease is seen when compared to control samples. When total color change is examined between the varnishes, the change which was the most is seen on synthetic varnish. Cellulosic varnish is the varnish type which show the biggest layer thickness among varnish types. The least layer thickness was obtained on water-based varnish. In surface roughness values (Ra and Rz), it showed almost 4 fold decrease after upper surface process was applied. Key words: Bamboo, Brightness, Color change, Hardness, Layer thickness, Roughness, Varnish