H.P.L. for furniture.

H.P.L. or high pressure laminated (resin) is an engineering product that is widely used to make flat panel in the furniture manufacturer industry. H.P.L. is a sheet of decorative panel with melamine resin. H.P.L. is made of melamine paper (the deco paper) that laminated with phenol paper with high pressure and high temperature to form a strong and flexible thin sheet with decorative looked at the front side. The pressure required is about 70-90 kg/cm2 with temperature is around 150 C and pressing time is about 1 hour. The melamine paper used is a decorative paper impregnated with melamine resin as the face of the H.P.L., while at the back layer is the phenolic resin sheet. The amount of the phenolic resin layer will determine the thickness of the H.P.L.; usually three or two layer is used. Once the pressing is completed, a certain thickness of layer sheet with decorative appearance at front side and the gluing side at the other side is ready to be used as a front layer of a board panel. H.P.L. sheets are available in various patterns and colors and gloss. Some sheets with texture are also available. The decorative appearance of the H.P.L. is formed by decorative paper used and the plate used. The decorative paper will form the finish pattern, while the plate will form the gloss and texture of the H.P.L. face.
 

HPL for cabinet

In the furniture manufacturers industry, H.P.L. is glued at a M.D.F, particle board or laminated wood (bare core) to make the panel board. H.P.L. will produced decorative panel appearance which is high resistant to scratches, heat, solvents and chemicals. H.P.L. is stronger then the decorative paper or wood veneer with 1 components coating. H.P.L. can be purchased in small amounts sheet and available in various motifs and gloss.

H.P.L. can be laminated to its core surface with simple process of gluing. The solvent base adhesive can be used as well as the water based glue. If the solvent base glue is used then, the pressing can be done in the simple way without having to use the big hot press or cold press machine. H.P.L. is available in various thicknesses. The 1 mm thick is the most used, it can be thick enough to overcome the cores with little bit uneven surface as laminated wood or bare core. It also quite flexible to be mounted on slightly curved surface make it flexible enough to be attached after the cabinet or furniture is built.
In the furniture industry manufacturers, the H.P.L. is widely used to manufacture furniture with simple models. H.P.L. can be used in the furniture industry with mass-production manufacturer that uses modern machinery and system. It can be used to make panels and flat furniture with high speed and consistency. 

H.P.L for contemporary furniture

 
The advantages of H.P.L.

• Strong and durable.

H.P.L. sheet is strong, it has high resistant to scratches, heat, water, chemicals, and solvent. It can be used as the face of panels that require high strength. It is an ideal material to be used at the part of furniture that will receive physical activities such as: top panel of dining table, bar table, working desk, counter table, etc.

• Simple and neat and compact

H.P.L. is an engineering product with flat and uniform surface. He doesn’t have varied properties as the wood veneer or laminated wood. This product can used to produce a flat surface much easier then the wood panel. It can be layered on a M.D.F. or particle board or laminated panel to produce a finished appearance with a variety of decorative motifs with a flat surface. H.P.L. can make the flat panel without dealing with the finishing process and troublesome wood properties variation.
H.P.L. can be attached to the surface of the panel with a simple gluing process, so it can be used to manufacture furniture in small quantities. Furniture product with special design can be accommodating by this material. The H.P.L. also is much used to make furniture in combination with other materials such as wood, iron or aluminum.

 H.P.L. for table and partition

The disadvantages of H.P.L.

Although much has advantages but, the H.P.L. also has disadvantages compared with wood. H.P.L. is an engineered product that will not be able to produce a natural appearance as well as wood veneer or solid wood. H.P.L. has a certain age and will damage after he pass his lifetime. Once he is damaged, he can not be recycled as the wood. The H.P.L. furniture will not have the antique value as well as the antique wood furniture.