It's cheap, it's pretty tough, it's great for wall and roof sheathing.
When do you use it around the shop?
I'm thinking to use it to build a sheet storage cart -- basically a plaftorm on wheels with an A-frame atop it. At $6 a sheet, seems OSB would server the purpose.
I'm not sure it's worth the savings. I used it to line a wall of the shop, because.... it's cheap.... and it takes a screw very well. For that, I'm very pleased. I've used it as a temporary work table top and would never do that again.
Keep in mind that, in general, one side grips and one side slips, by design. It's not something I'd want to be sliding hands or edges of plywood across, on the grip side.
It also splinters and chips very easily, so depending on manufacture and cutting blade, can be downright nasty to handle on a cut edge.
For your purpose, I think melamine would be better. It's smooth and clean and sheets would slide across very easily, and not mark or scratch against it.
I inherited a pile of OSB cut-offs when I moved into my current shop. I use it for decks on light-duty pallets, and I've used strips to sticker rough-sawn wood.
It hasn't been a suitable material for anything else I've done.
It's cheap, but not very durable.
Morris Dovey wrote in news:h9dl9h$ub8$ snipped-for-privacy@aioe.org:
At work, OSB stands for Obscenely Swelling Board. It's OK for some interior uses, but not as good as ply for holding fasteners. Any application that might even think about getting wet is out of the question.
Unless you're talking about Advantec - now THAT's good stuff.
I'd agree. My answer to the question is basically one word - NEVER.
I won't use the stuff, at any price, for anything.
Never have, never will.
On reason I don't use it for construction is that it does NOT hold screws or nails over time very well ...
snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote in news:0ejlb5tc91vkkh098c1ne8bg8mru4v9vju@
4ax.com:
I've got one project with any OSB at all. I used it because the drawer I was using required a sheeting-based bottom, and all the school shop had was 1x12's. It is possible to sand OSB to a nice smooth feel, but you're better off with ply for anything that is touched.
There's actually some left over OSB from an addition in the shed. It's free (well, already paid for), but still hasn't found its way in to my material selection process.
Puckdropper
We build shipping crates from it all the time. And we also use it for vacuum pressing cauls. And we've even used a little bit as door panels after we ran it through the widebelt. Funky looking stuff once it's sanded smooth and finished with some amber shellac. That was just for kicks though.
JP
There's a cedar-only lumber yard in Dallas that panelled their office in OSB. It's ... unique.
When my brother built his shop back in the 80s he used OSB for panelling in the cabinet doors. It looked pretty good.
Bill
I've used it for shop/garage shelving.
When my son was in high school and working at Macy Dept Store, he called me one day and said they were tossing out 5 perfectly nice packing boxes about 3'x3'x12", and thought I should come get them. He said there has got to be some use, perhaps build a cat house for a feral cat community living under my shed. They were made of flake board, the stuff used for roofing today... I built a two story condo, insulated for the cats, and with no finish at all, they have survived 7 years outside though harsh Pittsburgh weather. I thought it would last because I knew a guy that built a cottage on an island in the the river, sided with untreated flake board. It lasted 20 years before a flood swept the damn thing away. The stuff is far more durable than people make out. You can't leave it contact the ground, or it will swell and rot. It can handle a ton of weather as long as it can dry out, but thats true of any wood, other than pressure treated stuff.
Go to my web page,
Also, when I built a new bench for my table saw, I used this stuff for the panels, and as temporary doors till I got around to building real doors. Damn, I like the look, and probably won't bother.
bothered me for years. Why is it called Oriented when it's obvious it isn't?
Cuz it is oriented in a horizontal plane. Thus making it flat. Apparently there was other ways to orient the chunks. But it would not be a structually sound. Not that OSB is all that strong.
OK, then How do they orient it?
Make it in China?
Horizontal plane, as in flat, as opposed to every which direction. Each of those chunks all lay flat. That is their orintation. (I guess that means they are straight) ;)
The manufacturing process, I don't know. I am certain that there are big presses at work.
Ah, so!
It's more than just "oriented flat". It's designed so that it's stronger in one direction than in another--that direction will usually be marked on the panels.
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