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Not everyone can make wooden furniture on their own – certain skills are needed. Even with a joiner’s board, one must be able to work, and even more so with an array. The situation is much simpler with furniture made of laminated chipboards (LDSP). This is a sheet material with an already processed front surface. All that is needed is to assemble the cut-to-size parts. The situation is even simpler with the decoration of the premises: ready-made chipboards are mounted on the crate, the seams are decorated with decorative strips. Let’s talk about this material – laminated chipboard.
Production technology
For the production of laminated chipboard (LDSP), first-class source material is used – chipboard. It should be without signs of marriage, delamination, foreign inclusions, etc. The plates are polished, then fed to the press, where the lamination process takes place.
A chipboard sheet is covered with specially treated paper. Coloring can be different – from plain, but recreating natural materials: wood of different species, stone, cork, etc. Maybe with some pattern. The paper is impregnated with melamine, a substance that is insoluble in water and most solvents. Thanks to this impregnation, the lamination paper becomes durable and moisture resistant.
The prepared chipboard sheet is placed in a special press, a sheet of melamine paper is placed on top. Next, the press comes into play. These are two horizontal plates. On the lower surface of the upper plate, if necessary, a textured pattern is applied that imitates the structure of wood, stone, etc. Oil heated to high temperatures (140-230°C) circulates inside the press plates.
The lower, movable part of the press lifts the material laid on it and, for a few seconds, presses it against the upper part of the press. The pressure is high – more than 20 atm, so that the applied textured pattern is pressed through in the slab. At the same time, the heating melts the melamine and the surface layer of the “base” chipboard. Melamine penetrates the surface, firmly and rigidly fixing the paper to the material. After the melamine hardens, a strong, tough film forms on the surface, which is difficult to damage even with sharp and hard objects. The process is repeated on the other side, then the edges are processed.
Materials
Since laminated chipboard is made on the basis of chipboard, some properties and characteristics are “inherited” from the base material. The binder remains the same – it may contain phenolic resins. Therefore, formaldehyde emission must be controlled. If this indicator is not indicated in the information sheet, it is necessary to come close to the stack of material and evaluate the smell. If laminated chipboard is made on the basis of boards with an emission class not higher than E1, you will not feel a special smell. If there is a smell, we advise you not to respond to assurances that the material has just been received from production and in a couple of days / week / month nothing will remain from the smell. Normal material does not smell – this is an axiom that does not require proof.
The film deposited on the surface still makes adjustments to many indicators:
- Laminated chipboards normally tolerate regular wet cleaning. If a waterproof material is laminated, with high-quality glued edges, it can be in high humidity conditions for a long time without any significant changes in geometry.
- Laminated chipboard is more resistant to ultraviolet, high temperatures, and mechanical stress. You should not, of course, hit the surface with a hammer, but such a surface can withstand repeated movement of ordinary objects without difficulty.
- Ease of care. Rigid and dense film allows you to easily remove any dirt, as they are not absorbed, but remain on the surface.
- Various decor. Films can be plain, any color from the palette, plus with various effects – metallic, etc. A lot of wood imitation, a little less – stone, ceramic tiles. You can still find various geometric or floral patterns, but there are few of them, such plates are made or brought to order, so they cannot cost a little.
At the same time, the bending strength remains the same as that of conventional chipboard and depends on the quality of the raw material.
Russian consumers are familiar with Lamarty products manufactured at the Syktyvkar Plywood Factory. LDSP Lamarty (Lamarti) allows you to create original decors and furniture.
How to choose high-quality laminated chipboard
When choosing laminated chipboard, in addition to “sniffing” the material, determining the compliance with the formaldehyde emission, you need to pay attention to the end of the plate. The material should be dense, without any large voids. The chips must be compressed, the gaps filled with a binder. The presence of cavities of any size is a sign of poor quality.
When trying to stick a solid object into the butt (a door key, for example), the butt must remain intact. If chips fell during such a test, the starting material is of poor quality. It will be difficult to screw self-tapping screws / screws into such a plate even once – they can stagger and fly out. There is no mention of reassembly at all.
If you are buying laminated chipboard for making furniture yourself, try to find a material with a high content of birch. It differs in density, and hence in weight – a plate of the same size and thickness weighs 30-40% more. It is problematic to drive even an awl into the butt, not like keys. What is good about this type of chipboard for furniture? The fact that holes are well milled in it, the screws do not stagger even after repeated screwing.
Surface types
In addition to different colors, the front surface of laminated chipboard can be different – smooth, repeating the texture of wood or stone, any other. To make it immediately clear what a laminated surface looks like, letters have been developed for the most common samples. Often found:
- SM – smooth, glossy, the color can be any, including “under the tree”, but there are no characteristic bumps and protrusions;
- SE – board with coloring and surface imitating the structure of wood;
- PE – slightly pimply, similar to the peel of an orange;
- PR – porous, resembling the structure of a stone.
There are also many others. Large enterprises specializing in the production of laminated chipboard have several dozen types of surfaces. For example, in the photo above, the range of laminated panel surfaces offered by the well-known Austrian manufacturer EGGER.
Application
The main area of application of laminated chipboard is the manufacture of furniture. A couple of decades ago, this material had no special competitors: almost all cabinet furniture was made from laminated particle boards. Today, more and more furniture is made from MDF. This material is much more expensive, but allows you to create non-linear surfaces, to form patterns of high complexity. All this cannot be done from chipboard. In addition, MDF tolerates high humidity even better.
But the high cost greatly limits the spread of MDF furniture. Therefore, they mainly make combined cabinet furniture: the frame, shelves, partitions are made of chipboard, facades, countertops are made of MDF. A reasonable compromise and no need to decide which is better – MDF or chipboard.
The second area of application of laminated chipboard is finishing work. Walls can be sheathed with chipboard panels, avoiding leveling the walls with plaster. Although such a finish is not at the peak of popularity now, it can be used in interiors of any style. Best of all, wood-effect chipboard panels fit into a classic interior. Plain-colored options can be used in modern style, modern, art deco and even high-tech.
Chipboard: sheet dimensions, shelf thickness
Laminate standard sheets of ordinary chipboards of the first grade. In size, they can be exactly the same as the base material, and its dimensions are standardized by GOST. Dimensions according to GOST are given in the table.
If you are going to make furniture, it is advisable to select the dimensions of the sheet in such a way that the remainder is either very small or solid – it can be used for the following products. Companies that deal with cutting have programs that immediately figure out the layout. With their help, you can choose the optimal parameters of the laminated chipboard.
A few words about the thickness of chipboard for shelves. If you use too thin a sheet or make a shelf too long, under load (and sometimes even without it), the material may bend. Nevertheless, you will not find exact recommendations, since even GOST defines wide tolerances for the density and rigidity of particle boards. But furniture from chipboard is often made, so based on experience, the following recommendations were made:
- with a thickness of 16 mm, the maximum length is 600 mm;
- for 18 mm — 800 mm;
- for 20 mm — 1000 mm.
These are data for shelves 30-40 cm deep and for loose ends (freely lying on holders). With increasing depth, rigidity increases, which means that you can make the shelf longer. Also, the length can increase if a stiffener is added along the edge – nail / screw a decorative strip. Well, one more thing: the recommended lengths are given for an average load. If you are making a bookshelf or planning to put stones on the shelf, it is better to take a step (1-2 mm) more thickness.
Advantages and disadvantages
The advantages of laminated chipboard include low price, a variety of colors and textures, water resistance, resistance to mechanical damage. In general, this is a good choice for both finishing work and furniture.
Disadvantages also exist:
- Sheet material. To make panels or furniture, you have to cut it. You can do it yourself even with the help of a conventional hand saw, but at the same time chips of the laminate are formed along the edge, which does not improve the appearance of the product. Therefore, you have to order cutting chipboard in furniture workshops. The service is not too expensive, but it is an additional cost.
One of the well-known and “expensive” manufacturers of laminated chipboard is Egger. Here’s how the material differs - The laminated surface is highly resistant to water and steam. But the unprotected end absorbs moisture very well, as a result, the edges swell. Therefore, when cutting, it is also necessary to order edging of all ends. Let it be a melamine end edge, but the cut must be protected.
- No matter how well the end is glued, water vapor still penetrates through it. If the furniture is in a room with high humidity, over time the edges swell and the look of the furniture or finish becomes worse.
The higher the density and the more homogeneous the structure, the stronger and stronger the board. - Chipboard furniture does not tolerate reassembly very well. Once you unscrew the screw, the second time you do not tighten it: it will stagger. You can use larger fasteners. This will help to some extent. You can drill other holes – a centimeter nearby. But, as you know, this does not guarantee a XNUMX% result.
- From laminated boards it will not be possible to make figured furniture or smooth, rounded lines – this is not the right material. You can decorate with overlays, accessories. No other way.
Generally speaking, laminated chipboard is a good budget option for interior decoration or for creating furniture.