What are fiberboards?

A fiberboard is typically made from wood, and it is a man-made wood product, or we can also say manufactured wood product. It is made out of wood fibres and is a type of artificial wood. Some qualities that wooden fiberboards possess are: –

1. Their strength is equal in each direction.
2. The texture is almost the same throughout the board
3. The properties of fibreboards are not identical to wood. This is because of the alterations made during its production.
4. They are usually dense and flat; however, the density differs on the type of fibreboard.

There are three different types of fibreboards. These are, namely, high-density fiberboard (Hardboard or HDF), medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and low-density fiberboard (particle board or LDF). The three of them have slightly different usage, and let us see the uses and importance of fibreboards.

Uses and importance

Fiberboards can be used in the form of furniture, floor, cabinetry, wall slab, and more. They can be used wherever things like such are required- homes, factories, offices, schools, etc.

Some of the uses of fiberboards are as follows:

• Roofing of low-slopes
• Soundproofing
• Furniture
• Vapour insulation
• Structural protection covering
• Fire resistance

How does innovation help?

Prior to the invention of fiberboards, it was not possible to conveniently use woods as is, and as we use fiberboards. Fibreboards didn’t come naturally to us, or they were not ready to be used like other raw materials present in nature. They are specially designed to make our lives easier, to make the construction of various things convenient and, most importantly, possible.

Cement boards

There is another type of engineered fiberboard that is made up of different materials and is called fibre cement boards; as the name suggests, it is mainly made from fibre cement. Let us see some of their features as well.

1. Affordable
2. Long-lasting
3. Resistant to corrosion due to moisture
4. Fire resistance
5. High in elasticity

Let us also review some of the uses and importance ofcement boards. They are given as follows:

• Flooring and roofing
• Tile-backing
• Used in prefabricated homes
• Permanent shielding

Process of making fiberboards

Firstly, the wood is cut into small-sized wooden blocks by putting it into a wood chipper. The wood may be fresh or recycled. It doesn’t affect the procedure much. After being cut into chips, the wooden pieces are cleaned and washed to remove the possible sand, dirt, and other impurities.

After the removal of dirt, the chips are made sure to be free from unwanted materials such as metal scrapes. Note that the process differs slightly with respect to the type of fiberboard that is being produced, and there might be some additional steps according to it.

After cleaning, petroleum wax or paraffin wax is added to the chips. Petroleum wax is a good electrical insulator and has a high heat-storing capacity. This wax is added to the wooden blocks and results in the chips becoming fibres that are fluffy.

After a brief amount of time, the pieces are sprinkled and sprayed with adhesives such as UF or PF. UF is urea-formaldehyde, and PF is phenol-formaldehyde resin. UF is also known as urea-methanol and is made from urea and formaldehyde. In contrast, PF is made from phenol and formaldehyde.

After adhesives, they are arranged and pre-compressed. Pre-compressed is the pressure applied to them before they are hot-compressed. By hot-compressing, the adhesives act better and reach their full capacity to glue the chips together.

After this, finally, when the chips are glued together, they are left to cool down. And then they are reshaped and furnished.

Conclusion

There goes a lot behind in the making of fiberboards from the house of CenturyPly, and it is only possible due to the work that goes into its production and manufacturing. The innovation of compressed fibreboard was done accidentally by William Mason in the year 1925 when he was trying to put the scattered and wasted wooden blocks into use. This innovation may be accidental but has helped greatly to many. Get the strongest fiber boards from CenturyPly& add a touch of modernity to your home interiors.