Ideas for particleboard

[Victor Robinson]

So I've got a LOT of particleboard kicking around in the garage/shop. Most of it is from Ikea furniture from our college days that we've since replaced. I've kept it around because I didn't really know what to do with it and it's a lot to dispose of...surely it must be useful?

Occasionally I can use a piece in a jig for its slick melamine or laminate surface. And the occasional shop furniture piece. But it's often not even worth the trouble for a small piece of shop furniture to deal with the exposed edges that come from hacking it up.

Do you guys see any other uses for this stuff??

[Stephen Saar]

Fire?

:-)

[Paul Atkins]

It's half glue -don't bun that!

[Bill White]

Salvation Army?
Bill

[Victor Robinson]

oh man...that bad huh...

[John Coloccia]

Clamping cauls, router jigs, work surface(put it down before you stain, for instance), drill press table, etc. Buildsome storage shelves underneath your table saw extensions. I don't even worry about the exposed edge. If I can, I tear the laminate up, in fact. Lots and lots of good uses. Cut into strips to sticker wood? Sacrificial fences...

You get the picture :D

[John Coloccia]

...use as a backer to get clean holes on the drill press (everyone should have a big supply of junk wood for this)...

[Roger Benton]

Victor,

I made this bench/coffee table out of a bunch of 3/8" thick faux wood paneling (think badly done 70's basement rec-room) that was being thrown away during a remodel. Ripped everything into 2-1/4" strips, face glued the strips into thick planks, squared the ends, belt sanded everything flat and gave it a few heavy coats of poly. check out a company called "scrapile" for more of this type of stuff. free material is free material man, bring on the creativity! good luck-

-roger

[glenn bradley]

Cut off bins. I use the exposed surfaces to wipe off finishing rags before I lay them out. Slowly but surely the PB gets soaked with shellac, BLO and whatever else.

[Brian Jarnell]

Clamping cauls, router jigs, work surface(put it down before you stain, for instance), drill press table, etc. Buildsome storage shelves underneath your table saw extensions. I don't even worry about the exposed edge. If I can, I tear the laminate up, in fact. Lots and lots of good uses. Cut into strips to sticker wood? Sacrificial fences...

You get the picture :D
I am with you John,soon goes I find.

[Victor Robinson]

Hmmm...some really great ideas! Thanks everyone! :)

[Frank Drew]

Particle board tends to swell up and eventually fail when exposed to excess moisture, so might not be ideal for stickers if the stack is outdoors and the wood is green (wet). Also, I think all the glue tends to dull cutting edges faster than real wood, so it wouldn't be my first choice for backing material on drill presses, etc.

But there's no reason not to use if for any of the other flat surface/shelving uses others have mentioned. It's like sheetrock cutoffs, though; if you can't use it, no great loss, just put it in the dumpster.

[Peter Quinn]

Dumpster. Dumpster. Dumpster. Those are the first three thoughts that come to mind. I'd like Ikea to put dumpsters in their parking lots so savvy customers can throw the furniture in them STILL IN THE BOX and not have to risk the injury that comes from their eventual failure. Thats right, buy it, walk out to the lot and huck the boxes unopened into the dumpster. Go home and sit on the floor. Much safer and easier in the long run. My wife likes to shop there, and I don't mind that, but I had to ask her not to bring any more of it home. Buy all she'd like, but leave it there. You get the satisfaction of the purchase with out the pain of its ownership.

I had a Billy bookcase fall completely apart on its second day of service and topple over in my living room. Silly me, I thought a bookcase was meant to hold BOOKS, not just a single silk flower in a vase as in the store displays. Similar performance from other purchases and swore them off quickly.

I find getting rid of old IKEA junk to be something of a hardship. It stinks to cut, its not really strong enough to repurpose for any weight bearing applications, the dust is horrid, it can't be burned, it doesn't glue up well. I found the "drive buy an open dumpster in the middle of the night and chuck it in" method worked well, or the "Leave it on the street on trash day in front of a building down the street" also quite effective.:eek: I'm the kind of seagull that will drag just about anything made of wood home and try to find a use for it, but old IKEA stuff has little to do with wood.

[David DeCristoforo]

". I'd like Ikea to put dumpsters in their parking lots so savvy customers can throw the furniture in them STILL IN THE BOX..."

I like your idea Peter but those boxes can be useful... I'm always wishing I had kept the last box I tossed out when I need to put something in storage. Of course, there may be cheaper ways to get boxes...

[Josh Bowman]

26 years ago, I had a lot of particleboard and didn't have much money, and needed bench. So I got some free steel, welded a big frame with a friends welder. Took the particle board and stacked it glued it and screwed it. Topped it with a piece of tempered hard board and put a maple boarder on it. It weighs a ton! I'm still using that same bench today. Although I'm right now making a Roubo out of maple, this one will continue it's life as an extra bench, I may cut it in half to reduce the size though.
Anyway, my point is, I got rid of all the particle board and got a great heavy, strong bench.:D

[Jim Rimmer]

Cut off bins. I use the exposed surfaces to wipe off finishing rags before I lay them out. Slowly but surely the PB gets soaked with shellac, BLO and whatever else.
Don't mean to hijack here, but what is the device with 11 casters on it? :confused:

[Victor Robinson]

Don't mean to hijack here, but what is the device with 11 casters on it? :confused:

shopmade roller stand?

[Glen Butler]

I found the "drive buy an open dumpster in the middle of the night and chuck it in"

Oh so your the guy that makes me pay to haul off your garbage. It annoys me how much people think they can just use a jobsite dumpster or my dump trailor like its no big deal. The fact that you don't dare do it mid day should clue you in that it's dishonest.