Proper Particle Board Fastening Techniques
Particle board is an alternative to hardwoods or plywood and when applied well it can look just like the wood it’s imitating. Made by mixing wood chips and sawdust with an adhesive resin particle boards are not particularly strong or very water resistant compared to the other options but they are cheaper and easier to manufacture.
Particle boards therefore are quite common and often used to build household furniture and for small woodworking projects. Particle board are not quite as simple to actually put together as regular lumbar options and are usually held together with dowel rod joints or adhesive glues but they can be screwed together with certain kinds of screw.
It’s important to always remember that before you start working with the particle boards you should let them stand vertically or horizontally in the room for around 48 hours. This will allow the boards to reach equilibrium moisture content.
ADHESIVE FOR PARTICLE BOARDS
The adhesive method is one of the most popular ways to fasten particle boards, make sure you use a type of woodworking glue that is appropriate for your situation and will provide enough strength. There’s plenty of wood working glues out there so make sure you do some research or experiment with small craps of wood till you find the best one.
Gluing particle boards should be done across the unfinished edges, simply hold the glued pieces in place with a clamp and then allow them to dry for at least 24 hours before proceeding to the next part of the building process. The glued joint will provide a lot of strength if done correctly and give enough time to set.
PARTICLE BOARDS DOWEL RODS
Dowel rods are another common way of fastening particle boards, dowel rods are short wooden cylinders that work by being driven into guide holes and then being coated with glue to hold the boards together.
Dowel rods come in many sizes and styles and you should always use rods that are no thicker than half of the panel’s thickness. Make your guide holes by carefully drilling (use a good drill!) into the panels and make them slightly wider that the rods themselves, don’t worry the rods will expand over time when exposed to heat and moisture. The standard guide hole should be 0.2 inches wider than the dowel rods you plan on using but this can vary so keep that in mind.
SCREWS FOR PARTICLE BOARDS
Finally we have screws but you won’t be using the standard screws this time, if you want to fasten dowel rods with screws make sure you use countersunk screws with parallel threads and recessed heads and you are using screws with a diameter that is less than 20% of the particle board’s thickness.
Some more advice is that the longer screws will have more gripping power so consider using them as well. And be careful not to over torque the screws because if you do there’s a high risk of the particle boards splitting.
