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TYPES


Engineered wood products include Plywood , Masonite , Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) , Oriented Strand Board (OSB) , Particleboard , Glued Laminated Timber (glulam) , Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) , and I-joist. Typically, engineered wood products are made from the same Hardwood s and Softwood s used to manufacture lumber. Sawmill scraps can be used. Alternatively, it is also possible to manufacture similar engineered cellulosic products from other Lignin -containing materials such as Rye straw, Wheat straw, Hemp stalks, or Sugar Cane residue, in which case they contain no actual wood but rather so-called vegetable fibers.


CHARACTERISTICS


Engineered wood products are used in a variety of ways, often similarly to solid wood ( Lumber ). Engineered wood products are preferred over solid wood in many applications due to a certain comparative advantages:

  • Because engineered wood is man-made, it can be designed to meet application-specific performance requirements.

  • Large panels of engineered wood may be constructed from small trees.

  • Engineered wood products are often stronger and less prone to humidity-induced warping than equivalent solid woods.


Engineered wood products are more expensive to produce than solid lumber in terms of time, money, and energy, but enjoy economic advantages when manufactured in large sizes due to the rarity of trees suitable for cutting large solid-wood panels.

Although engineered wood products use the resource of wood efficiently and therefore promote natural-resource conservation, the required adhesives may be toxic.

Adhesives types are of approximately 4:

1) Urea-formaldehyde resins, (UF), most common and cheapest, not waterproof
2) Phenol-formaldehyde resins, (PF), a yellow-brown adhesive commonly used for exterior exposure products
3) Melamine-formaldehyde resin, (MF) a white, heat & water resistant resin, often used in exposed surfaces in more costly designs
4) MDI or urethane resins which are expensive and generally waterproof but are formaldehyde free


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