EDGING MAN-MADE BOARDS

Denis Lock continues his discussion on the use of man-made boards.

- Denis Lock

In my last article I noted how I had changed from a solid wood bigot and described two projects built almost entirely from man-made boards. The major benefits were ecological and economic. Man-made boards utilise wood material that would otherwise have gone to waste. The cost per square metre of 16mm man-made board is from one fifth to one half of the cost of 25mm solid wood. From a woodworking standpoint the advantages are many: stable material, available in wide widths (no edge-to-edge joining of 150mm boards) and minimal surface preparation. There is, however, no free lunch and there are also disadvantages. The major disadvantage is that exposed edges can be ugly, weak and highly absorbent.

One can't argue: the edges Photo 1 (chipboard) and Photo 2 (oriented strand board - OSB) are ugly. Can you believe that somebody would build a drawer as seen in Photo 1? These edges need to be covered with some material that matches or complements the face of the boards. For some applications the edges have to be waterproofed and for some they have to be strengthened.

The board supplier will edge, at a cost, using a 1mm or 2mm plastic veneer. This assumes you have an exact cutting list as once the boards have been cut to size and edged there is no going back for last minute changes. The DIY'er can buy iron-on edging (1mm thick) and with a hot iron and a sharp knife do a pretty good (though generally not long-lasting) job. Iron-on edging is banned in my workshop. The professional, who needs a lot (and I mean a lot) of edge banding can invest in a portable edge bander. Photo 3 shows the Festool edge bander - a very clever and very expensive tool. I do most of my edge banding using solid wood. I am after all a woodworker. Let me take you through some examples of my projects.