What is a particleboard?

Particle board is a wooden material made by pressing under heat, small wood particles (eg. Sliced chips, sawdust, shavings wafer chips band) and / or other lignocellulosic particles (eg. The shives of flax, hemp shives, bagasse) with adhesive. As the binder the most commonly used one is amino resin (urea-formaldehyde, melamine urea-formaldehyde), rather than isocyanate resins. Depending on the application the boards that are most commonly produced are: single layered chipboards or triple layered chipboards. Chipboard for the furniture industry are an example of engineered wood panels: the outer layers are made out of smaller sizes particles (including micro-chips), most of chipboard are produced in a flat press technology. There are also known technologies for pressing particle board known as pressure calender, as well as extrusion (thus producing a full plate and a breezeblock).

Particleboard can be made without any additional surface treatment (the cheapest option) or more appealing by painting or the use of various veneers (wooden, paper, etc.) or laminate on visible surfaces, see the following image. This layer makes visual effect of the furniture (or object made of particleboard) and what is even more important it has a protective role. We can have layers (veneers, laminate) with various protective functions: e.g. water protection, fire retardant, anti-stain, etc.. 

Chipboard density:

  • Light Plates – to 500 kg / m3
  • Medium weight – 500-750 kg / m 3
  • Heavy – more than 750 kg / m3

Most sheets are produced with a density of 600-680 kg / m3

Depending on the application, the standard EN 312 distinguishes the following types of chipboard:

  • (P1) – board general purpose use in dry conditions
  • (P2) – boards for furnishing -Also for making furniture for use in dry conditions
  • (P3) – not-load-bearing boards for use in humid conditions
  • (P4) – load bearing panels for use in dry conditions
  • (P5) – load-bearing boards for use in humid conditions
  • (P6) – boards with increased load-bearing capacity for use in dry conditions
  • (P7) – boards with increased load-bearing capacity for use in humid conditions