Furniture board??

[Ron Bontz]

I was at one of those, you know, "warehouse stores" looking at their unfinished as well as finished kitchen cabinets. I asked one of the cabinet sales persons about some Shenandoa cabinets, angled base ends. Trying to speed things up, I was considering buying some and building the rest.
Well I asked about the "particle board sides" and boy what an answer I received. Besides hearing about his 30 years building houses and how much junk those other brands were, I was told in no uncertain terms these were not particle board. They were "furniture board" and were "water proof" as well as having been used by furniture companies for over 30 years. He /she even went so far as to tell me the company dips the various cabinets in a vat of water to demonstrate how plywood warps. That will teach me for asking a question. I have seen a lot of "particle board" over the past 30 years or so. I have also built a few pieces of furniture and cabinets here and there. Something I did not mention to the sales person as I was too engrossed in the story line and was afraid he might have a weapon under that desk. I must confess though in my 30 plus years butchering wood I have never come across "furniture board", nor have I ever seen the need or known anyone to have a need to submerge their cabinets in water. Are we talking golf states here? None the less I thought since this site is a wealth of never ending knowledge I would ask all you creekers out there. I know I don't get out much. But is there such a thing as "water proof furniture board" out there or is this just another particle board fantasy buy those who do not wish to use the more expensive plywood?

[David DeCristoforo]

Oh sure... "Waterproof Furniture Board" has been around for years dude. I can't believe you have never heard of it. The furniture industry does not use "particle board". They use "composition wood panels" or "wood solids". But only the best use "Waterproof Furniture Board". So you see... you learned something today. Unfortunately, due to the forum rules regarding language usage, I cannot tell you what it is you have learned. I'm sure however, that you can figure it out.....

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Ron, you might try doing what I just did. I googled 'furniture board'. I didn't dig very deep (only looked at the first page), but got two hits for a material referred to as furniture board. One was called Dura-Fibre. I didn't look very closely at the site but did see that it was a laminated product. Whether it's a material like something I'm familiar with I don't know, but yes, there's listings for 'furniture board'.

[Brad Schmid]

Actually, the guy could have been right. There is such a thing. There are at least 2 types that i'm aware of, and they go by the names of Medex and Extira. I believe one of these was advertised by submerging in water. I have also seen at least Medex referred to as "waterproof furniture board". Now whether the furniture/cabinets the guy was referring to was actually made of one of these, or something like them, is another question.
Cheers

[Ron Bontz]

Indeed I have learned something today. A new term. I did look up "Furniture Board" Hmmm, looks a lot like particle board to me.:rolleyes: Funny thing though. I did not see anything about being water proof. I think I'll stick with that plywood and build my own corner base ends. Hopefully my cabinets won't be submerged in water anytime soon. That counter top will just have to wait.

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks Brad. I suspect this is a water proof glue they are using to bond the wood fibers. I'll be researching those as well.:)

[Brad Schmid]

Thanks Brad. I suspect this is a water proof glue they are using to bond the wood fibers. I'll be researching those as well.:)

Yup, basically I think both of the ones I mentioned are MDF, manufactured using waterproof glues and no formaldahyde. I believe at least Medex is also available with various laminated surface treatments for cabinetry useage.