I'm sitting in front of office shelving made from 18mm Alder veneered blockboard. No noticeable sagging over a span of 1m and fully loaded with books and files etc.
The front edge is trimmed with machined hardwood run through the workshop spindle moulder but I think you can buy similar stuff from the sheds.
Blockboard will always be more rigid than an equivalent thickness of ply.
Thanks for that. I have to confess never to having used blockboard. To be honest, I'm not completely sure of exactly what it's made from.
LOL! You and me both. There are so many composite boards around (blockboard, chipboard, MDF, OSB, donkeyboard, fibreboard, laminate etc, plus all the manufacturers specific product names) I get confused. Plywood and hardboard, I know, but that's about my limit; beyond that, I have to look it up...
I've got the top from an old 60's desk that is what I'd call blockboard, it's about 2x1" strips of solid wood, glued up lengthways, with a single ply of plywood on top and bottom, and in my case, a laminate sheet on top of that ... it makes an excellent portable workbench on top of a couple of trestle legs.
In message , Chris Hogg writes
I guess you need to look beyond the sheds for a supplier: builders merchant etc.
The plethora of cheaper alternatives has pushed it off the shelves.
Assembled from lengths of softwood glued together and with a veneered finish it must require more labour than particle or stirling board to manufacture.
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Ha! I have been using a similar set up for cutting insulation and plasterboard. Fine until you pull a heavy sheet lengthways and the
*spreaders* close up and become vertical struts:-(Mine now have temporary braces nailed on!
Yes, a quick Google has just turned up prices in the £50 to £80 area for an
8 x 4 sheet. It certainly does look good and solid though.
Think engineered wood. Where strips of wood are glued together. With a 'veneer' on the outside. Not as strong as plywood, but cheaper. Only real advantage is the side along the grain will be smoother than plywood.
Solid wood has a habit of warping. Glueing strips together makes this less likely. As hopefully each strip will try and warp in a different direction. So not only is more economical in the use of wood so cheaper, but should be more stable too.
It used to be lengths of softwood strip laid up side by side, with a veneer layer bonded on both sides. So at a glance looked like ply, but with the same longitudinal strength of solid wood along the grain (and less across it - but slightly better than real wood due to the surfaces).
Viewed from the board end you could see it was lots of adjacent staves of wood.
I guess it used to be a good way to use up wood offcuts. Quite often these days you see many short wood offcuts end jointed into longer timbers using multi finger scarf joints.
I have used t & g oak floorboards glued together as cabinet material. Never had a movement problem, Apart from the units being very heavy.
I think it was cheaper than producing plywood as less glue was required and the production machinery was simpler.
Stronger along the length, less so side to side, which is what you want for shelving.
Main features are that it weighs less than the alternatives, and it takes fixings well, at least on the "long" side. Really, just veneered pineboard, good for drop down loft doors.
Blocks :) No it's strips of wood just like pineboard, then it has wood laminate added both sides. In one direction it's very strong, in the other of course not. Low quality blockboard tends to have a lot of voids.
NT
That's obviously the reason why Mosquito bombers were made from blockboard.
Not.
Good ply is much stronger.
Andy
Planes are made of curved ply, Tim was comparing flat ply, a different animal.
NT
Rigidity is not the same as strength.
Eggs are very rigid Car springs are stronger.
Good quality ply is always much stronger than blockboard of the same thickness.
As a child, I had several toys made from De-Havilland plywood offcuts:-)
Plywood is not rigid in any direction.
In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes
Stronger in what sense? If you consider a limiting case such as standing on a 50mm wide strip. Would you prefer multiple plies or glued continuous strips of timber?
I suggest that the cross plies in tension and compression will contribute very little.
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