How Is Particle Board Made?
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Particle Board
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Particle board is a type of board that is made from recycled wood products. As a way to eliminate waste, many companies collect their left over wood waste to either make particle board as an additional product or to sell the waste to another company that will make particle board from it. While sturdy and cheap, particle board is not very attractive and it doesn't hold up well to moisture. Nor does it accept paint or stain very well. As such, particle board is usually covered with a wood veneer or it's used in flooring where it won't be seen.
Sorting and Blending
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The first step in making particle board is to gather suitable material that isn't going to be used for anything else. Pieces which are either too big or too small are discarded and the suitable wood castoffs are then gathered together. Sometimes particle board is made from only a select type of wood waste, which will give it a more uniform composition. The pieces are soaked and sprayed with a resin or glue and then they're blended into a paste. When the resin soaked wood is blended this way, it becomes a thick mixture that acts as the base material for creating sheets of particle board.
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Formation
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This paste of wood and resin is then pressed out into a single sheet. The sheet is kept under pressure so that it remains flat and then it's heated to dry it into a solid state. A variety of options can be chosen from during this phase of the manufacturing process. The length and width of the sheet is determined as well as its thickness. Once the resin has fully dried and the particle board is a solid sheet, it's ready to be cut, shaped and used for a variety of projects from counter tops to flooring.
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