Types of Wood - Sheet Material
Sheet material refers to engineered wooden products that's formed into wide and long flat sheets of no more then 22mm in depth.
These materials are not normally as strong as planks but they are more stable, sometimes easier and quicker to work with and can cost less.
Most of these products are found in DIY stores and at builders/timber merchants everywhere, used to make furniture and in general building.
Generally sheet materials don't bend, twist, warp or swell.
MDF
Standing for Medium Density Fibreboard this product is used everywhere, loved by few and hated by most due to home make over TV programs.
Found to be the core material used in a large amount of everyday furniture and custom furniture.
Its not the strongest but is very cheap, easy to use and machine (Always wear a mask even outdoors or in well ventilated areas), it hates water and will swell up even with the smallest drop. The cut ends are fragile and it splits easy if you don't pilot hole properly.
Other then a few other ingredients its basically a mix of glue and wood dust/ chipping ground and compressed into sheets.
Commonly brought at sheet size 8x4 foot (2400x1200mm) and comes in a range of thickness from 3mm up to 22mm.
Hardboard
Also called High Density Fibreboard, this is one of the strongest fibreboard's due to its highly compressed and fibre mixture.
It stronger then MDF but don't like water just as much. Its common for people to believe that hardboard is one of the weakest sheet materials, its not a strong as plywood but is one of the strongest in the fibreboard family.
Its also one of the cheapest and this is used in places you look everyday but you don't realise.
Other then a few other ingredients its basically a mix of glue and wood fibres compressed into sheets.
Commonly found as the back board in kitchen units, general purpose furniture like draws and decks and in most sofas. This is also the face material in hollow doors.
Commonly brought at sheet size 8x4 foot (2400x1200mm) and comes in a range of thickness from 3mm up to 22mm.
Particle Board - Chip board
Part of the fibreboard family this is one of the most commonly used sheet materials in manufactured furniture.
Its made of larger pieces of wood like wood chipping's and shavings, mixed with a glue and compressed.
Its not very strong under pressure but it is very durable and hard to dent.
You will touch this material everyday as its the most common material used in flat pack furniture.
Typically particle board is the core material in laminated kitchen work tops, kitchen unit carcasses and flat packed shelving units but as a rule of thumb if its flat packed its laminated particle board.
Commonly brought at sheet size 8x4 foot (2400x1200mm) and comes in a range of thickness from 3mm up to 30mm.
OSB - Sterling/Wafer Board
Standing for Oriented Strand Board some refer to this material as Wafer Board or Sterling Board.
A lot mistake it for Chip Board, its made of larger strands of wood chipping's and shavings and glued and lightly compressed for a layer on layer effect. it very weak and brittle but can take spreads of pressure.
You can always tell the difference from the larger stands 15-25mm longs, very rough edges and its layered construction.
Commonly used for roofs and other low performance construction.
Commonly brought at sheet size 8x4 foot (2400x1200mm) and comes in a range of thickness from 8mm up to 50mm.
Plywood
The closest to real wood you can get with a solid sheet material, it comes in a variety of different species and is often stronger then some plank woods. The species its available in includes, Pine, Spruce, Birch, Maple, Fir and even oak.
It is made up of thin layers of real wood laminated (glued) together, the layers run at a different direction to bring more strength and stability to the material, sometime people refer to plywood as 5ply or 7ply etc, this is the amount of layers it has 7ply is 15mm thick and has 7 layers, 5ply is 12mm thick and has 5 layers.
Generally used in modern furniture construction and general building, Roofing, Marine or Sheathing ply is used for exterior and roofing applications.
Commonly brought at sheet size 8x4 foot (2400x1200mm) and comes in a range of thickness from 3mm up to 22mm.
Veneer
There are a few types of veneer available, the one we are referring to is Real Wood Veneer.
It comes in just about any species of tree there is and can get very expensive, its made by a factory skimming off a very thin layer of wood.
Its uses are to make sheet materials and other application more appealing, it normally comes with a heat activated glued on the back, in cases where it don't you have to spread glue over the surface first.
Its commonly placed over the top of MDF and Particle Board to give the effect of real wood at lower costs.
You can buy sheet materials like MDF already veneered with real wood available at normal MDF sizes, the sheets of veneer is available in just about any size your require up to 8x4 foot.
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