Hemp Medium Density Fiberboard

Hemp Medium Density Fiberboard – In the early 1990’s, C & S Specialty Builder’s Supply (namely Bill Conde, Dave Seber, Barry Davis, and Tim Pate) in Harrisburg, Oregon, imported regulated bales of hemp and began working on a medium density fiberboard (MDF). The evolution of hemp MDF as a viable building supply option began when Bill Conde of C & S took their hemp fiber research and ideas to Paul Maulberg, the head of Washington State University’s Wood Engineering Laboratory. Conde explains in a 2005 Mycotopia blog, “We asked if [Maulberg] would consider trying some hemp fiber to make some experimental hemp MDF, and his reply was, ‘You bet, hemp is the King Cong of fiber. I would love a chance to work with some.” Excitedly, Conde and team began the process working with Maulberg on creation and testing of the hemp MDF. It was soon discovered how strong the hemp fiber truly was, as the full-length hemp fibers jammed both of the processing machines and brought things to a standstill. The process for breaking down the fibers was redesigned and restarted with ultimate success. Explaining the process in his blog, Conde says, “The shortened fiber was worked through their two mills and was made ready to be pressed into MDF.” After being fluffed hemp fibers are dropped into a spinning drum where glue is sprayed to mix with the fibers. Glue and fiber are then placed into a hot press under high pressure. According to Conde, within two attempts they had exceeded all world standards for other types of MDF that used …