Man made boards
The development of man made baords has profoundly influenced the design and construction of storage furniture. Previously only solid timber was available and considerable skill was required to make and assemble wide flat boards of even thickness that would not suffer from wrapping and splitting with changes in humidity. But stable man made boards change all that. In just a few hours, you can now make a cabinet that would have aken days of painstaking work to produce before the advent of factory made preveneered boards. Below are some of the more common boards that you will find at any good timber merchant.
- Plywood
Plywood is a laminated material made by gluing thin sheets of wood together in layers to form boards of various thicknesses. The grain of alternate sheets are set at right angles to one another to reduce the tendancy for wood to move as it shrinks or swells. Normally plywood is made with an odd number of piles for balanced construction. Decorative veeners are often used for the surface or face piles. To reduce manufacturing costs, a slightly inferior surface veneer may be used on the back. It is a relatively cheap board comprising three birch piles only, is often used for drawer bottoms. Being flexible, it can also be nailed or glued over a curved frame, forming a tough rigid skin.
- Preveneered Plywood
Thin plywood with a decorative face veneer is an ideal material for cabinet backs. It is also used nowadays as a substitude for sheets of solid wood in frame and panel construction.
- Multi ply board
Strong structural plywood boards are composed of a number of cross banded veneers. Use exterior grade water resistant plywood for built in storage around showers or in bathrooms.
- Blockboard
Although it is a strong rigid material, perfect for most of the furniture applications and shelving, blockboard invariably requires edging with solid wood lippings.
- Laminboard
It is superior to blockboard in stability, largely due to its core of fine softwood strips. Its face ply often runs across the board, so that any additional veneer runs parallel to the core.
- Chipboard
Chipboard with a core coarse particles sandwiched between outer layers of fine high density particles has a smooth surface suitable for paint or varnish.
- Plastic covered board
The thin melamine foil applied to this type of chipboard is not designed for heavy wear, but it is nevertheless an excellent water resistant finish for cabinets and shelves.
- Veneered Chipboard
Wood veneered board only needs light sanding before varnishing, oiling or polishing. A limited range of hardwood veneers available.
- MDF
This is an exceptionally stable board that makes an excellent substrate for veneers. Its uniform density makes for secure fixings using woodscrews and knock down fittings.
- Hardboard
This is a cheap high density fiberboard used for density drawer bottoms and to make rigid back panels for cupboards.
- Decorative Hardboard
This variety of hardboard is surfaced with plastic foil in plain colors or printed with wood grain effects. Single faced and duofaced boards are used for inexpensive paneling.
- Perforated Hardboard
Perforated Hardboard is sometimes employed for its decorative qualities, but it is perhaps more frequently used to make storage racks for tools suspended from home made wire hooks.
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