The Ultimate Review of Man-Made Panels and Engineered Wood (Part 1)

Plywood, blockboard, core board, finger-jointed board, glued wood, Malacca deck... There are so many edge products of various woods at present, are you a little dizzy?

Okay, let’s do a thorough review this time.

Both artificial and engineered wood are made from wood or plant fiber materials, mechanically separated into variously shaped units, then glued and pressed together to form panels. Given the current generally weak market for panel logs, it's worth researching these products to identify future trends and opportunities in the wood industry.

A) Density board, also known as fiberboard

Put the wood or fiber into water and crush it, then add urea-formaldehyde glue and press it into shape.

It is divided into:

high-density fiberboard, used for wall panels and flooring;

Medium density fiberboard, also known as MDF

(medium density fiberboard), used for furniture and cabinets;

Low-density fiberboard for decorative strips.

Advantages: Dimensionally stable, good processing performance, easy to produce various sizes, easy to paint, and can be pasted with many surface materials and decorative materials

Disadvantages: Deformation and swelling when exposed to moisture, poor nail holding power, and a lot of glue is used, which is not environmentally friendly.

B) Particle board, also known as particle board, micro-particle board, bagasse board

The wood or fibers are broken down and glued together using pressure and heat.

Advantages: better moisture resistance, better nail holding power, better heat insulation and sound absorption, less glue used

Disadvantages: The internal granular structure is not easy to mill, the board is easy to break when cut, and the formaldehyde content of inferior particle board is high.

variant:

Hexiang board: Made from straw instead of wood. The main advantage is that it uses MDI glue (isocyanate glue) without the addition of formaldehyde.

*Many IKEA furniture is made of particle board.

C) OSB board (oriented strand board), also known as oriented strand board

Although it is also called "particle board", the process is different from the particle board in B) above. It is formed by hot pressing wood fibers in layers horizontally and vertically.

Advantages: Its structure creates its super strong nail holding force, and it uses environmentally friendly adhesive

Disadvantages: It is difficult to process and not easy to decorate the surface, so it is often used in construction abroad rather than interior decoration or furniture.

variant:

"OSB Board" is actually a trademark. It was registered by Beijing New Building Materials Group after it introduced OSB board in 2001. It was later widely used to refer to OSB. Strictly speaking, "OSB Board" must be imported OSB and then distributed by Beijing New Building Materials.

"Australian pine board" originally refers to "pine density board imported from Australia", but soon unscrupulous JS also called domestic density board "Australian pine board".

"Waffleboard," also known as large-sheet particleboard, is made by pressing thinner, larger particles into the wood. The main difference between this material and OSB is that the particles are squarer and more randomly arranged. This material has been almost completely replaced by OSB.

"Aspenite" - some people think that this word is the English word for oriented strand board. In fact, tracing back to its origin, this is actually a trademark registered by Macmillan, the predecessor of Weyerhaeuser Company, for the predecessor of OSB, "waffle board". Now "waffle board" has been basically discontinued but the word has been retained.

D) Plywood . This broad category includes (or encompasses) plywood, coreboard, three-ply board, and five-ply board. The wood is sliced ​​or peeled into veneers, then glued together in an odd number of layers using adhesive. Plywood comes in various thicknesses, including 3, 5, 9, 12, and 18 cm (e.g., 5 cm plywood is also called 5 cm plywood). It also has various ply counts, including 3, 5, and 7.

Advantages: Very strong and good bending resistance

Disadvantages: The glue content is relatively high and edge sealing is difficult.

variant:

Marine plywood, also known as marine plywood, uses permanent waterproof, boil-proof and weather-resistant WBP glue. It has a high density and is used in the construction of ships or aerospace materials.

"Building template" This one needs no explanation.

"Film-faced board", film-covered concrete formwork.

Quick question: When building a timber frame house, is it better to use plywood or OSB?

The answer is this: Currently, approximately two-thirds of the North American housing market uses OSB. While similar to plywood in construction, OSB is cheaper, at approximately 7% cheaper, while plywood is approximately 7% stronger. Plywood is more permeable and breathable, while OSB absorbs moisture more readily (meaning it's more prone to warping). OSB also offers more consistent quality overall.

E) Blockboard: also known as core board, wood core board, woodworking board (block board)

The process is to heat-treat the wood into strips and then splice them into a wood core. Then, both sides are covered with beautiful veneer and pressed into shape using hot and cold presses.

Used for furniture, doors, windows, partitions, false walls

Advantages: Generally more stable than solid wood boards, simple processing, low cost, and high strength

Disadvantages: It is somewhat sensitive to moisture and should not be used in kitchens or bathrooms. The core wood has different disadvantages, for example, poplar and birch have stronger nail grip and are less prone to deformation, while paulownia is lighter and softer and has poorer nail grip. Pine is very hard but difficult to press and splice.

Variants:

Falcata decking is a blockboard made from a solid wood core called Malacca, a Southeast Asian wood. Its advantages are its high plasticity and resistance to deformation. However, some low-quality Falcata decking produced by domestic JS manufacturers can suffer from unstable moisture content and large color variations.

F) Decorative panels, which can be made into various articles on the surface of the substrate to meet different needs

It is divided into:

Melamine board (yes, that famous "milk powder additive") is made by soaking various patterned papers in a melamine adhesive and then laminating them onto particleboard or MDF. Its characteristics are its high melting point and moisture resistance. After the milk powder incident, this product has been given various names, such as eco-friendly board, paint-free board, double-veneer board, and cyanide board.

Moisture-proof board

During the production of melamine substrate, granular moisture-proof particles are added. They have a certain effect on the moisture in the air, but they will still swell and deform if covered or soaked in water vapor for a long time.

Fireproof board

Compared with melamine board, it has more anti-wear and heat-proof properties

Decorative panels

A thin layer of solid wood veneer, about 0.2mm thick (about the thickness of two or three A4 sheets), is pasted on the surface of the plywood. The advantages are that the base material is stable and environmentally friendly, but the disadvantage is that the varnish will discolor and yellow over time.

Blister board

The MDF surface is vacuum formed or PVC laminated. The advantages are flame retardant, heat resistant, moisture resistant and waterproof. The disadvantage is that it is almost impossible to repair if accidentally burned by a cigarette butt.

G) Finger-jointed and straight-jointed boards

Finger-jointed boards are made by removing imperfections from the boards, creating vertical finger-joints and gluing them together, then splicing them horizontally using a horizontal splicing machine. This enhances the wood's strength and appearance. No plywood is required, so minimal glue is used, making it more environmentally friendly. As a solid wood board, it has a natural texture. It is increasingly being used to replace block board.

Common thicknesses include 12mm\14mm\16mm\20mm, etc., and can even reach 36mm.

Finger-jointed boards can be divided into two types: knotty and knotless. Knotless finger-jointed boards are called freeboard in the Japanese market, which means knot-free.

The common size is 25/30mm x 500/600mm x 4200mm. It is a standardized product widely used in home decoration, furniture, cabinets, stair treads, etc.

Good news: Since it is impossible to conceal the internal materials, it is not easy for JS to fake it.

Finger-jointed boards are becoming increasingly popular due to their environmental friendliness, naturalness, stability, and strength, and are expected to become even more popular in the future.

variant:

Straight board

If the raw material can be removed long enough without knots, the product can be "jointed horizontally only, without finger joints," which is called straight-jointed board. Straight-jointed boards have no color variation along their length and are more aesthetically pleasing than finger-jointed boards (but slightly weaker in strength). Because the raw material is more difficult to obtain, the cost is also higher.

The above are artificial boards mainly for interior decoration and home furnishing. Next week we will continue to introduce engineering wood mainly for construction projects, so stay tuned!