ISO 17087:2006

Overview

ISO 17087:2006 specifies performance levels and test methods for adhesives used for finger joints in non-structural lumber products. It covers adhesives intended for products such as interior and exterior mouldings, window and door components, bonded lumber panels and other non-structural bonded wood parts. The standard classifies adhesives by service condition (dry-use and wet-use), defines test specimens and conditioning, and sets pass/fail criteria so manufacturers, laboratories and specifiers can evaluate adhesive suitability for intended service.

Key topics and requirements

• Performance classes: two primary classifications - dry-use (for equilibrium moisture content (EMC) ≤ 16%) and wet-use (for EMC ≥ 16%). Short-term elevated temperature exposures (up to 104 °C) are included in both classes.
• Mechanical tests: tension and flexure tests are specified to measure bonded-joint strength. Representative minimum strengths include:
  • cured (dry) strength: 13.8 MPa
  • three-cycle soak: 6.9 MPa
  • temperature/humidity (65 °C, 16% EMC): 5.2 MPa
  • wet-use boil and vacuum/pressure: 11.0 MPa
  • elevated-temperature (104 °C): 6.9 MPa
• Wood-failure criteria: minimum percentages of wood failure (indicating cohesive wood break rather than adhesive failure) are specified for softwoods and hardwoods (e.g., 60% wood failure for cured dry-use softwood specimens). Special groupings address different species’ bondability.
• Specimen preparation & sampling: finger-joint assemblies are to be made with specified lumber quality (EMC ~8–12% recommended), with 20 specimens per exposure condition from multiple assemblies.
• Conditioning & exposure regimes: detailed conditioning (23 ± 2 °C / 65 ± 5% RH), soak/boil cycles, vacuum/pressure cycles and elevated-temperature treatments are defined to simulate service and transit conditions.
• Apparatus & calibration: tensile-testing machines (capable of ≥ 9 800 N compression) and environmental chambers are required; force-measuring systems must be calibrated in accordance with ISO 7500-1.
• Reproducibility: procedures and reporting (including annexed report forms and guidance on reading wood failure) are provided to enable cross-laboratory duplication.

Applications and users

ISO 17087 is used to:

• Qualify and certify finger joint adhesives for non-structural lumber products.
• Guide adhesive manufacturers, wood-products fabricators, and quality/inspection laboratories in product development and acceptance testing.
• Support procurement specifications for window & door manufacturers, moulding producers and panel fabricators who require reliable bonded joints under defined service conditions.
• Provide forensic or failure-analysis teams with standardized test methods to evaluate adhesive bond performance.

Related standards

• ISO 7500-1 (verification/calibration of force-measuring systems for testing machines) - referenced for calibration requirements.
• ASTM D 5572 - the ISO standard is based, with permission, on this ASTM specification.

Keywords: ISO 17087, adhesives for finger joints, non-structural lumber, finger joint adhesives, dry-use adhesive, wet-use adhesive, finger joint testing, wood-failure, bonded lumber products.