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Adhesive  Basketry  Lighting  Resin  Varnish  Waterproofing  Wood

Other Uses A good-quality resin, known as 'damar penak', can be obtained by wounding the tree. It has been used only on a limited scale in the manufacture of certain classes of varnish[310 ]. Dammar is a hard resin, obtained from various trees of Southeast Asia. Traditionally, it is used for purposes such as caulking boats and baskets, as an adhesive, a medicine, as a fuel for torches and sometimes in foods. Dammar has many commercial applications, though many of these uses are less important nowadays due to the advent of synthetic materials. Commercially, it is an ingredient of inks, lacquers, oil paints, varnishes etc, and is used as a glazing agent in foods[891 ]. Harvesting of the resin commences when the bole is around 25cm in diameter (approx 20 years old). Triangular cuts (becoming circular with age) are arranged in vertical rows around the trunk. The cuts are several centimetres wide at first, but become enlarged at every tapping and eventually become holes of 15 - 20cm in depth and width. The average number of holes for a tree about 30 metres tall and 60 - 80cm in diameter is 9 - 11 in each of 4 - 5 vertical rows. For the higher holes, the tapper climbs the tree supported by a rattan belt and using the lower holes as footholds. The exuded resin is allowed to dry on the tree before it is collected. The frequency with which the tree is visited to refreshen the cut varies from once a week to once a month, depending on how far the tree is from the village. Tapping can continue for 30 years[891 ]. The best grades of the dammar are pale and transparent but it darkens when stored. It is a usable material for making spirit-varnish, normally with turpentine or naphtha as a solvent. The usual melting point of 90 - 100°c, and its hardness make it superior to other dammars of the same type. The defect of cloudiness in no way detracts from the utility of the varnish, which is to produce a lustrous coating[310 ]. Because collecting the dammar is fairly labour-intensive, an attempt to create a firm trade has failed[310 ] The heartwood is yellow-green when freshly cut, weathering to dark tan-brown; it is distinctly demarcated from the 2 - 5cm wide band of pale yellow sapwood which has fine yellow ripple marks visible to the naked eye. The texture is medium; the grain interlocked to straight. The wood is heavy and hard; it is very durable, being resistant to dry wood borers and termites, and very resistant to fungi. It seasons slowly, with a high risk of distortion but only a slight risk of checking; once dry it is stable in service. It has a fairly high blunting effect and so stellite-tipped and tungsten carbide tools are recommended; the presence of resin can be troublesome in machining; nailing and screwing are good, but require pre-boring; gluing is correct, but needs to be done with care due to the presence of resin. The wood is suitable for many heavy-duty purposes. It was the standard timber for durable heavy construction in Peninsular Malaysia and can be applied both indoors and outdoors. It is suitable for railway sleepers, piles, bridges, telegraph and power-line poles, vats, casks, tanks and frameworks, especially for wooden houses but even for e.g. Lorries and buses. Indoors it is used for flooring (medium and heavy duty) and joinery. It has been used in constructing wharves, ships and boats both in fresh and salt water conditions, with good results[46 , 310 , 848 ]. Despite its hardness the wood is used for carving, which is comparatively easy, especially when the wood is fresh[310 ].

Special Uses