Plywood is one of the most widely recognized multi-purpose engineered wood-based panel products used in Canadian construction projects. Plywood binds resin and wood fibre sheets to form a?composite material sold in panels. A typical plywood panel has face veneers of a higher grade than the core veneers. The function of the core layers is to increase the separation between the outer layers where the bending stresses are highest, improving resistance to bending forces.
How is plywood made?
Plywood panels are fabricated from multiple layers or plys of softwood veneer glued together with the grain direction of each layer of veneer perpendicular to that of the adjacent layers. These cross-laminated sheets of wood veneers are fastened together with a waterproof phenol-formaldehyde resin adhesive and cured under heat and pressure. In BC, plywood is made from softwood species, usually Douglas-fir or spruce, pine and fir?(collectively known as?Canadian softwood plywood—or CSP). The most common dimension is 4 feet × 8 feet. Plywood varies in thickness, the most common being ?-inch.
What is plywood used for?
There are a range of plywood products like Film Faced Plywood, Commercial Plywood, Melamine Plywood, Fancy Plywood, PVC Plywood, HPL Plywood, etc. for structure and non-structural uses suitable for both wet and dry service conditions, including subflooring, single-layer flooring, wall, roof and floor sheathing, structural insulated panels, webs of wood I-joists and concrete formwork. As exterior wall and roof sheathing, plywood can provide resistance to lateral forces such as wind and earthquake loads and form an integral component of the building envelope. It may be used as both structural sheathing and finish cladding. For exterior cladding applications, specialty plywoods are available in a broad range of patterns and textures, combining the natural characteristics of wood with the strength and rigidity.
Sometimes we face the challenge of choosing between various materials for the same task or furniture. There are so many things that you have to consider, like the cost, durability, aesthetics, and so on. Plywood and particle board are similar types of materials that can be used alternatively, or maybe not. The usage or application of either of these materials depends on a lot of factors. While both materials are available in similar sheets and varying thicknesses, you might not know how each of them can be used at home.
Simply put, particle board is a waste-wood product made by heat pressing wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even sawdust and resin together. To make the end product water resistant, fireproof, and/or insect-proof chemicals are used including wax, dyes, wetting agents, and release agents. After the resin, chemicals, and wood scraps have been mixed together, the liquid mixture is made into a sheet. The weight of the wood chips is evenly distributed to make sure the finished board is not top heavy. Compression is applied to the particle board sheet multiple times to create the tightest possible bond between the resin and the wood bits. A popular type of particle board that you may see is oriented strand board (OSB). This wood composite is very important to home and commercial engineers for structural purposes. Oriented strand board is easily identifiable by its manufacturing process that layers strands of wood in specific orientations. Most home and commercial builders use OSB particle board for floor and wall bases. And also, there are many different kinds of particle board, such as Melamine Particle Board, Ordinary Particle Board and so on.
Now that you know what particle board means, it is important to differentiate clearly between the advantages of particle board vs plywood. Particle board has plenty of advantages in its kitty that can make it the ideal choice for a lot of things.
The surfaces of particleboard is usually smoother than that of plywood.
Particle boards are created using scraps of other lumber products, which makes it environment-friendly.
Particle boards are very light in weight. Furniture made from these boards is relatively easy to transport and move around.
Particle board is definitely more cost effective than plywood.
