Particle board (chipboard)

Particle board (a.k.a chipboard) is manufactured from wood particles, such as wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even saw dust, and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded.

In general the chipboard used in the furniture found in Singapore market are of relatively lower density. One thing to note for people who like to move the furniture around every now and then to change the layout of the house or those who intend to move house soon, the screws and joint tends to loosen after such moving around. Chipboard furniture are not recommended for the above group of people. Reason being that chipboard is of lower density and the screws will loosen after movements as per mention in my previous post about MDF.

The general sentiments in Singapore are chipboard are very cheap and not very durable, which is true to a certain extent. Most of the chipboard furniture found in Singapore are of lower quality. However 1 point to note is that even for chipboard there are different grades and different quality. There are those very cheap and non lasting grade but there are also those which you could immerse in water yet it would not wrapped but this type are way too expensive to be economical for furniture.

Pros of particle board:
• Inexpensive
• Easy to work with

Cons of particle board:
• warp or expand if not sealed
• More susceptible to swelling and breaks when waterlogged
• Less dense than MDF

MDF

MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) is basically an engineered wood product formed by breaking down softwood into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure.

Most of the furniture in the Singapore market nowadays are made of MDF. They are of relatively higher density and better quality than most of the chipboard furniture in the market.

One will ask “so what if its density is higher?” Due to its higher density, it is less prone to damage when moving house or when being shifted from 1 place to the other, as compared to particle board furniture. Higher density will mean that the fibre and the “compactness” is higher, thus when a screw is screwed in, the screw are being held more tightly and less room for movement. Advantages being that there are less tendency for the screws to be loosen and leading to the whole structure to be shaky.

Pros of MDF:

• Less expensive


• Generally easier to work with


• Is consistent in its strength, and is consistent in its size (width, length)


• Shapes well.


• Stronger than chipboard

Cons of MDF:

• Denser than plywood or chipboard (the resins are heavy)


• Swells and breaks when waterlogged


• May warp or expand if not sealed

Given the cost to quality relation and the benefit, I would recommend MDF furniture over most furniture if a customer is with a relatively tight budget constraint and yet would like the furniture to last over a reasonable amount of time.

Introduction to type of wood available

One question I get most often when people are looking for furniture is what kind of wood is this? So which type of wood is better?

Currently in the local market the type of wood that we tend to find most is in the following order:-

1) MDF (Medium Density Fibre board)

2) Chipboard (a.k.a particle board)

3) Rubber wood

4) Nyatoh wood (declining in numbers majority are not pure nyatoh)

5) Teak (very few real and good quality teak furniture around nowadays)

Basically what type of wood to get it all depends on individual requirement and the budget available. One thing never changes in this world is when u pay peanuts you get monkeys. The Chinese saying 一分钱一分货applies universally.

My next post will touch on the properties of the different type of wood.