what to make with particle board?

[myxpykalix]

A guy wants to give me a bunch of particle board but i have no idea what the heck i could use it for, besides shelves? I seem to recall you could drill into the sides but you needed a special type of graduated screw.

What do you use it for?:confused:

[Brady Watson]

You could start a trash pile :D

-B

[steve_g]

You could start a trash pile

just don't burn it... depending on the resins binding the chips together, it may be noxious.

SG

[myxpykalix]

You could start a trash pile :D

-B

Believe me, i have enough of my own trash I need to stop collecting other peoples!:D

OMG I went out to a guys house who was cleaning out his fathers estate and he has (conservatively) 3 small buildings FULL of wood, mostly leftovers from a cabinet factory things like drawer sides and fronts, small stuff and some good stuff, bunch of tools and i'm trying to work out some kind of deal but i can't use it all for sure...:eek:

[michael_schwartz]

Make a small torsion box work bench top, and put a scrap of formica on the top.

[garyc]

Jack...
Sorry to contradict those above, but the ONLY thing to build with particleboard is a fire! :p

[steve_g]

Gary... I didn't say that a fire wasn't the best use....:D

SG

[bleeth]

As someone who builds a whole lot of cabinets in a highly competitive market I can tell you that the joys of building with todays plywood with its voids, delaminating skins, and banana shape has convinced me that I would rather use cabinet grade PB or MDF as a substrate any day of the week. Even much of the "domestic" ply has the same issues. I got in a load of B-2 Birch recently that had footballs on the b side and was warped like an elongated washboard----in TWO directions. Couldn't get it to hold down with the vac for anything.
Don't get me wrong-I am a wood guy all my life. But the quality of todays "semi-engineered" wood panel product isn't near what it was or should be. I build cabs with ply as specified for a bunch of clients and recently had one accuse me of using MDF due to bow in upper casework bottoms. I proved it was ply, adjusted the doors to hide it, and told him the facts of life: If I had started with MDF or PB and laminated both sides as these pieces were they would be straight today and straight in 10 years.