Chat with a master cabinetmaker about particle board made me rethink my whole shop

I was helping out at a trade show in Portland last month and got stuck talking to this older guy named Frank for like an hour. He told me he's been using high density particle board for his cabinet backs for 20 years and never gets callbacks. I always thought it was junk so hearing that from a pro with 40 years experience really hit different. Has anyone else had a solid experience with particle board on certain jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameronp471mo ago

Did you wait to see what he said about how he gets the edges to hold up? I've always been scared of particle board swelling up on me if it gets the slightest bit damp. But hearing a guy with that many years in the game vouch for it definitely makes me wonder if I've been too harsh on the stuff. Might be worth trying on a few cheap shop projects just to see how it feels in real use.

the_jamie1mo ago

Did you catch the part where he talked about sealing the edges before assembly? I had a buddy who swore by that method, he used a thin coat of shellac on every cut edge and it kept his shop cabinets solid for years. The trick is you gotta do it before you even screw anything together, not after. But yeah I get why people are scared of particle board, I've seen it turn into a mushy mess from a single wet spill too. Still, if you're building something for a dry basement or garage that won't see rain, it might be worth a shot for the price savings.

ivan7741mo ago

@cameronp47 that's exactly it though. We write off whole materials cause of one bad experience. Same thing happens with tools, people say a brand is junk cause they used a cheap version once. Frank probably just knows his limits with it.