Particle board uses?

[gwyneth]

As a result of the official opening of garage sale season up North, there is a lot of virtually free particle board in my pickup (I wanted the pegboard, birch plywood and small sheet of laminate, but for a total of five bucks they tossed in at least eight 2 x 8 ft. partial sheets of the stuff.)

Searching the forum has already produced a lot of useful info, such as mask and ventilation for cutting.

It doesn't look like the particle board I remember from years ago, being finer grained.

I'm looking for ideas about whether it can be used for anything, and how--particularly cheap things that can be laminated to it. There's no point in spending almost as much on using it as something better would cost instead.

So any thoughts about what kind of adhesive, and layers of other stuff to laminate to it--no matter how far out or silly--would be great. Also, are "particle board screws" the only fastener option that works?

[cabinetman]

Since it's free and you don't have a choice of types, there are many uses. Particle board comes in many grades, the two most popular are vastly different, and sometimes referred to as "chipboard". One is sometimes called "underlayment", which is made with a large particle of a coarse cut. The other is (in my neck of the woods) called "Southern Industrial Board", or just "Industrial Board. It is made with a very small particle, and the consistency is more dense due to a fine grade of particle. It has a very smooth surface. Both types are made with particles of basically wood waste materials, and are not moisture resistant.

Both can be used as substrate for tops or cabinet construction, or shelving. It has limited strength and can deflect under its own weight in certain lengths and widths. White and yellow glues adhere very well as does contact cement. All wood veneer, paper backed veneer, Formica (any high pressure plastic laminate), plywoods, lumber, and other sheet goods including MDF, MDO, and other particle board, can be glued to particleboard.

It has the tendency to crumble easily and piloting holes for drilling is recommended, as is countersinking. Coarse thread screws work very well. Care has to be taken when seating screws to not seat them fast, but rather bump them tight when getting close to seating.

Besides the wood particle ingredients include resins that may contain formaldehyde. Some materials have a distinct odor. It can be sealed or painted. It should not be used around moisture.

[SARGE..g-47]

Morning Gwyneth...

If it gets wet, it will eventually crumble. As CM mentioned, it is not particulary sturdy or stable. On the good side.. well there's ahhh.. hmmnnn...

I have two bathroom drawers made from it now (melamite coated) in my shop that a young gentleman from work has given me to repair. One has absorbed bathroom steam and is basically falling apart. The other crumbled under pressure of his young children hanging on the handle. One can be repaired.. I will make a new drawer from MDF base for the other as it it beyond a band-aid stage. The MDF is about all he can afford as was the home he purchased where the contractor saved a $ by using cheaply made drawers of particle board.

As you might have guessed.. I don't hold high esteem for the small chip and glued particle board. Others might find wonderful uses for it, but my first thought if I had inherited it as you did would be that the "trash truck" runs on Wed. at my home and not to forget to take to the street for pick-up.

Wish I could be of more help...

[linear]

I use that kind of stuff in a variety of ways. I mostly look for laminated pieces. I get mine from the cull bin at BORG. Often they make me a great deal if I get rid of a lot of the stuff for them. Pieces with one face damaged come up a lot.

I have some white pieces that make good temporary worktops. Glues and finishes don't stick to the laminate well, so cleanup is easy.

They make good glue cauls (disposable if need be) for the same reason--PVA glue doesn't stick at all to the laminate.

I've made a few jigs out of the stuff, nothing too complicated, but it is dimensionally stable (if you keep it dry). I often use brad nails as fasteners.

A good coat of gloss paint can serve in place of a laminate, depending what you want to do with it.

I made my own "tool dock" sort of thing where I bolted a bunch of benchtop tools to pieces that were the same size, so I could interchange the tool+base assembly into a stand quickly. Since the base particleboard pieces are the same size, you can shelf them easily too.

[Richard in Smithville]

I remember a fellow using 3/4 " particle board for the floor in his boys room. Made it into tiles, stained, sealed, and installed. No one knew it was what it was. The floor is still stong today. Now I'm not saying to lay it down in your bedroom but it might make a goot anti fatigue mat in the shop.

[gwyneth]

I appreciate all the input, including the trash day suggestion. Not being emotionally attached to the stuff, I don't want to spend a lot of time or money on a doomed redemption effort. I'm thinking about laminating 1/4" plywood to either side for some 'long-term temporary' utility cabinets.

Having been through the white melamine furniture stage during a previous life in a beach cottage, only to see it all gradually melt over the years when the Gulf would flood in, I understood what a good moisture wick particle board is.

[docrowan]

I made my own "tool dock" sort of thing where I bolted a bunch of benchtop tools to pieces that were the same size, so I could interchange the tool+base assembly into a stand quickly. Since the base particleboard pieces are the same size, you can shelf them easily too.

Hey Rob,

I've been thinking about doing the same "tool dock" thing. Can you share a few details, such as what tools you've included in your tool dock line up (scroll saw, drill press, bench band saw, etc.) and what kind of stand you're attaching them to for use.


Thanks,

Chris.

[linear]

I've "docked" my benchtop drill press, scrollsaw, and bench grinder at this point. Belt/disc sander is next on the list.

I had a stack of shelves on hand that were taken out of a cabinet when we made a change of configuration. I can't throw anything away. This is on-topic incidentally, because the shelves were particleboard. They were also painted white and had a hardwood edge band on the front edge. And all the same size.

The easiest way for me to get up and running was to plow a groove in the bottom edge, then glue a cleat into the groove. I have a couple of those folding workbenches with the clamping tops (like a Black & Decker Workmate, but mine are a different brand). The cleat just gives the clamping top something to grab, none of the dimensions are critical and I just used scrap MDF.

Then I just bolt the tool to the shelf with whatever's handy.

When I get a round tuit, I'll build a proper shop cabinet that accepts that size shelf as a drop-in insert to the top surface. And I'll also build the rack that I can shelve the tools in later.

When I needed to take the drill press to a cub scout meeting to help the little dudes with their project, it was easy to throw the folding work table in the back of the truck along with the drill press and know I'd have a portable work station.

[gwyneth]

That's an excellent idea, Rob. Was the paint on the shelves applied directly over the particle board, or were they laminated?

I suppose the cleat, hardwood edge, and "work-mate" are doing most of the structural work so that the particle board isn't, per se, having to support the tool?

[linear]

Just a coat of gloss white paint. These were installed in a bathroom cabinet and are standard shelves. The cleat does stiffen them up drastically, but the work top on the folding gizmo does support the weight of everything.

[gwyneth]

So for the cleat you used MDF, not particle board?

Question about the glue--if the stuff swells and or crumbles when it encounters water, does it do that with woodworking glue (Titebond)?

[linear]

I probably should have said I made the cleat from "scrap on hand," because I don't think it matters much.

I used PVA glue without giving it a lot of thought, and nothing bad happened. I suppose you could run test pieces or select an alternate adhesive.

[gwyneth]

Thanks for the input, Rob--it really helps.

[docrowan]

Rob,

Thanks also for answering my somewhat off-topic question. I like the idea of a rolling cabinet with a tool dock, that the attaching boards slip into. That way, if you want to clamp the tool to anything else, such as a workbench, you don't have the cleat to worry about. My brother gave me a scroll saw that he had attached to cleated board similar to what you describe.

Thanks.

[linear]

I think the cleat adds a lot of stiffness. Mine don't run to the edge, which I decided would make it work out in as a drop-in cabinet topper if I ever got around to building that kind of cabinet.

I made my router table 2.0 with a removable top, so I'm pretty into modular thinking these days as it pertains to shop furniture at least.





Note the particle board top (tenuously on topic)--I consider it more or less disposable. The rest of the router table is also cull bin goods, 1/2" MDF sides on legs made from 2x4s that I jointed square. Particle board sides would be okay too on this kind of a deal.

Added: here's a shot of the top from down under, showing how I chose to attach it.