Adhesive tape prevents splitting of the surface layer of the slab during sawing. Hand saw must be attached with a maximum inclination.
Jagged edge - a sad sight. Especially it catches the eye on the plates, painted white.
The chips and the artificial resin create a strong joint during pressing, but with a certain processing of the board, the chips can split. For example, along the cutting edge, at the drilling site, when planing and processing with a rasp. The fibers of natural wood are longer and stronger connected to each other. That is why the chipboard should be treated more carefully.
How to sawboard
Practically any saw will be suitable for these purposes. It is only necessary to drive it at a very acute angle to the surface of the plate, that is, placing the saw almost flat to the surface. Circular saw and bow saw with a slight feed, only slightly pressing. It will also reduce the risk of brittle cut lines. It is desirable, of course, to use a saw with the smallest teeth. Additional protection can also be adhesive tape, which is stretched along the cutting line. It is recommended usually for coated chipboard.
Another tip: saw without rushing. Excessive haste can lead to such a result that an uneven, chipped edge of one part forms an ugly joint with another. By the way, the coating can be protected from splitting, if you incise it with a sharp knife - the deeper, the better.
Drilling, rasp processing and planing
Dull or limited-speed drills tend to split the edges of the drilled hole. Only having picked up a good drill, and correctly leading the tool, it is possible to avoid damages.
With an even, clean cut, no additional processing is required. But the circular saw can leave bumps that need to be removed with a rasp or a plane.
The rasp (or planer) is carefully guided along the edge, as when working with wood, and from the outside to the inside, so that chips do not break out, and the edge after stripping does not seem even more sloppy.
For plates covered with film, a planer is more suitable. Anyone who is too difficult to work with the plane can use the file.
Surface treatment
There are two ways of decorative surface treatment of wood products and chipboard - varnishing or cladding. Lacquer is usually covered with wooden surfaces, chipboard for aesthetic reasons - extremely rarely, only in the case when it is necessary to “elevate” the not very impressive appearance of the plate or the finished product.
Before coating the varnish surface should be putty.
Even the surface of a wood chipboard, ground by the factory method, needs to be puttied and ground before applying a varnish on it. Tiny, barely noticeable damage can clearly appear under the varnish film, and this will only worsen the appearance of the product.
Putty is applied evenly with a spatula, and after drying the surface is treated with emery paper. The result of this preparatory work should be a completely flat surface, and then one layer of varnish will suffice to form a perfect film.
If after applying the varnish any errors were found, then before re-coating the surface should be lightly sanded with emery paper.
Glue the coating.
The choice of coatings for particle boards is very large. Who has special requests for color, it is better to use the film.
The films are available in a wide range of colors and with a variety of decor, moreover, they are usually treated with an adhesive composition, which simplifies the work on the finishing plates. Since the film coating is very thin, the bearing surface must first be carefully polished before stretching the film.
Sheet laminated plastic is thicker and more wear resistant. It is glued with special glue, which is applied to the carrier surface of the plate and to the floor.
The laminate coating makes the chipboard attractive and at the same time protects it from various impacts.
Surface protection
If you bought or manufactured furniture from chipboard, the composition of which is unknown to you, it is better to take additional measures to protect your health.
Protection with varnish.
Formaldehyde fumes can be stopped by applying a new coating on the furniture. This layer must be thick enough. Thus, the lacquer coating, in at least two layers, prevents further formaldehyde evaporation.
Films and laminates also protect the surface. Here you need to pay attention to the joints: they should be as tight as possible.
Plywood can also be a protective material, but not any. Some types of plywood are made using an adhesive composition, in which all the same formaldehyde is present. Therefore, it is desirable to treat plywood - varnish.
Matter and wallpaper.
Absolutely inappropriate material for protection against formaldehyde emissions are matter and wallpaper. They are porous and therefore cannot serve as reliable protection.
Carpet, as well as glue used in its installation, can also give off formaldehyde. If the relevant services during the test detected an increased concentration of hazardous fumes, it is necessary to find out what kind of material is the source before blaming the chipboard and starting a new surface treatment.
Edges
A narrow strip of plastic is applied to the edge. Iron promotes bonding.
The cut at the chipboard does not look very beautiful, and, more importantly, it exposes the loose, most vulnerable inner layer. Also on impact and strong pressure, the edges of the cut may be damaged. Therefore, the edge must be protected.
The simplest, but in most cases, sufficiently reliable protection is to glue a plastic tape with an adhesive coating or a plate of veneer with a not very hot iron.
Planks made of wood.
The edges of the plate that are subjected to the greatest loads need better protection. To help her help thin planks of wood. In color, they must be in harmony with the slab coating. After gluing the planks separately or together with the slab, it is necessary to coat it with varnish or some other protective compound.
Even a 5 mm bar is an effective edge protection. A wider plank will also prevent the plate from bending.
Chipboard - an excellent structural material, but not too attractive in comparison with wood, and also particularly susceptible to environmental factors. Products made of chipboard receive some protection during the manufacturing process. For this, various impregnations and additives are used. However, under intensive operating conditions, such factory measures are not enough; therefore, it is recommended to further protect the material. How to protect chipboard, as well as process it with finishing materials, will be discussed below.
Plate surface treatment
The front and inside of the slab have the largest areas, so if they are not protected, they account for the largest amount of moisture. At the same time with the protection you can decorate the material. Below are a few of these techniques.
Lamination
The lamination process is a chipboard finish with paper-resin films. Facing is carried out at high temperature (150-200 degrees) and elevated pressure (25-30 MPa). Protective and decorative layer occurs due to the spread of hot resin on the surface. Next, the resin is polymerized, forming a solid uniform coating.
If the technological process is observed, reliable adhesion occurs between the particle board and the resin. During lamination a certain surface texture is created - usually it is a gloss or. Laminated surfaces are resistant to mechanical stress, moisture, ultraviolet radiation and high temperatures.
Kashirovanie
During the laminating process, the chipboard is covered with an adhesive layer, on which solid, non-laminated resin paper films are then placed. The difference between laminating and laminating is that when laminating a decorative coating is glued to the slab as a finished product. For example, the embossing "under the wood texture" is done in advance. Such films are called "finishing".
As in the case of lamination, when processing the material by the method of laminating, elevated pressure and high temperature are also used. However, the parameters in this case are more benign: the temperature is from 20 to 150 degrees, the pressure is from 5 to 7 MPa.
The lack of laminating is the instability of the coating to mechanical stress and moisture. Such a surface is easily scratched and swells. Lamination is used, mainly in the manufacture of inexpensive furniture, as well as for the production of parts that are not subject to aggressive environmental influences (for example, the back walls of the cabinet).
Paint coating
Non-laminated chipboard sheet can be coated with several layers of paintwork material. The sequence of works is presented below:
- remove dust and dirt from the sheet;
- we coat sheet of chipboard with heated drying oil;
- we cover the sheet again, but this time with cold linseed oil (a thin crust should appear);
- we put the first paint coat;
- after drying the first layer, apply the second.
Laminated polymers
Laminated plastic is a polymer in which there are niches for the filler. The filler is fabric, paper, veneer and other materials. At the heart of the manufacture of paper-layered filler is paper. It acts as a reinforcing layer, and also gives the layered polymer plasticity, strength and visual appeal.
Finishing begins with cutting chipboard sheets of the desired dimension. With the help of compressed air and brushes from the sheets is removed dirt and dust. If before painting does not remove contamination, good adhesion will not work.
Gluing of facing material is carried out by direct pressing of paper-layered polymer, which is pre-applied glue and particleboard. Pressing can be done in a hot way (using carbamide or PVA based adhesives) or in a cold way (using PVA dispersion contact adhesives). In practice, cold pressing is not used as often as the process requires extensive areas, and the productivity is relatively low.
Finishing the post formation. The task - to give plastic bends and other irregular shapes. The process is carried out on special equipment at elevated temperatures.
Pasting with polymer films
The process of applying polymer films is similar to the decorative lining of plastics. The difference lies in the materials used. In this case we are talking about a thermoplastic film applied by pressing on a particle board, treated with an adhesive composition.
For finishing chipboard used polyvinyl chloride films. Occasionally used polystyrene and acrylic films.
Finishing with polymer films is carried out on the same technological equipment, on which finishing materials such as veneer or paper-layered polymers are applied. The lining process can be both hot and cold.
The advantage of lining the polymer method is the ability to process the profile parts. However, the use of polymer films has a limited potential, since the coating does not have high physical and mechanical properties, as well as unstable to temperature effects.
Vacuum pressing
Vacuum (or as it is called otherwise - membrane) pressing is a technological process during which the furniture is covered with a decorative film. The main advantage of the method is the ability to cover parts of complex shape.
For example, using membrane pressing you can revet handmade furniture with various recesses, cutouts, miniature details, etc. The part is placed in a vacuum press, where it is tight, repeating the surface relief, fits a heated polyvinyl chloride film.
Veneering
The correct name for the process is veneering. However, in everyday life the term “shponirovanie” is often used. Natural wood veneer can finish both chipboard and furniture board. Veneered furniture has a higher quality compared to laminated. However, maintaining the safety of veneered furniture is quite difficult, since the veneer is not as durable as laminate.
Chipboard or MDF table top
To finish the chipboard or MDF sheet, you need plastic (paper-laminated, polycarbonate, polystyrene).
Progress of work:
- Cut out the necessary parts from the particle board, connect them with a stapler.
- The joints between the parts of the chipboard base must be the same. If this is not the case, level them with sandpaper.
- We make the facing for the ends.
- Cut the facing part with the grinder.
- We glue the finishing material and fix it with light blows of a rubber hammer.
- Install the end plate at the level with the bottom edge of the tabletop.
- At the same time we glue the base and apron.
- At installation of a laminate we use dividers. After installing the sheet, remove the dividers.
- Smooth the surface with a roller.
- Using the router, cut a hole under the sink.
- When the construction is assembled, grind all the edges.
Joint and edge protection
Any liquid is always looking for and finds the lowest place on the surface. Joints are recesses, therefore, are vulnerable to water ingress. A considerable number of joints is available in cabinet furniture, where the main structural material is chipboard.
Due to high humidity and frequent contact with liquids, kitchen furniture is particularly vulnerable. Sink, worktop, furniture next to the stove - the most often wetted pieces of furniture in the house. An example is the part of the tabletop that contacts the mixer. The crane sooner or later gives a leak, which means that an unprotected chipboard will inevitably get wet and collapse.
To protect the joints, these places are first cleaned and dried with a hairdryer. Then we apply PVA glue on the joints, and when it dries, we treat the surface to be protected with silicone or, as an option, with building sealant.
If there is no pan in the cupboard, then sooner or later, the liquid draining from wet dishes will destroy the chipboard. Therefore, the material must be degreased, and then process it with a sealant.
We close the seams with sanitary silicone of the corresponding color furniture. This will avoid mold on the furniture.
In those places the edges of the tabletop, where there is no lamination, set the end or connecting strips. These elements can be made of metal or plastic. The slats are not ideal protection, so the edges still need to be pre-treated with a sealant. Another common method of protecting chipboard is applying PVA glue or furniture lacquer on the edges of the glue.
Protection of joints on the floor
The main difficulty in protecting joints on the floor is that such plates are subject to increased mechanical loads and are constantly slightly shifted under loads. Because of this, the putty is poorly adhered to the chipboard.
To ensure the protection of joints on the floor, the seams are treated with epoxy resin mixed with sawdust. Moreover, sawdust should be very fine - they need to sift in advance.
Note! Epoxy sawdust seizes extremely quickly. Based on this, do not mix too much putty at once.
A mixture of epoxy and sawdust will reliably protect the joints, but the cost of this solution is quite high. You can replace the epoxy resin with wood glue. In the hot glue you need to add sawdust, and then the resulting composition to process the seams. If done correctly, the effect will be even better than with epoxy, since the glue penetrates deeper.
After the seams are machined, the chipboard joints will become more resistant to moisture and, last but not least, they will stop playing with each other. If, however, chipboard linoleum, on the safety of the plates, you can no longer worry.
After processing the seams, it will take several days for the putty to dry. At this time, the plates can not walk, so as not to disturb the joints.
The coating of chipboard with protective and finishing materials in many cases requires certain experience and qualification, and sometimes special equipment. If you are not confident in your own abilities, it is better to entrust the work to specialists.
The kitchen is a place in the house where the furniture is constantly in a more or less contact with water. Based on this fact, it will be quite obvious the question: how to protect your favorite furniture set from moisture. After all, the sad consequences of the contact of water and chipboard (even waterproof) are well known: hillocks, blooms, mold, and with a long "union" all this beauty, on which so much effort and money was spent, will simply rot.
So, let's define the places most at risk:
- car wash
- cupboard with integrated dryer
- base
- furniture above the stove and in close proximity to it
- worktop edges
And now let's decide what measures need to be taken to protect your kitchen and enjoy its “product” type for many years.
Proper installation of the sink and mixer
As for the sink, I would recommend not to embed the mixer directly into the countertop, as the faucet may start to leak. An exception, perhaps, can be made for small taps from filters with drinking water, since they are used less often, and the water pressure is not so powerful, the gasket will last much longer. However, if you nevertheless decided to neglect my advice (there are different situations, in IKEA, for example, sinks without holes for the mixer are sold), be sure to handle a section of the tabletop! First, all the dust must be carefully removed from the cut, and then it must be well dried with a hairdryer. Then apply a layer of diluted PVA glue, and after it dries, silicone. If his speech is possible, it is better to choose transparent.
It is worthwhile to dwell on the processing of the table top cut when mounting the sink. It is also necessary to protect as much as possible from the ingress of water. I must say that this is one of the weakest points of any kitchen, unless, of course, your worktop is made of non-stainless steel. So, from the cut, as with the installation of the mixer, you need to remove all the dust, then dry it thoroughly with a hairdryer. Then apply a sealant, it is better to choose silicone sealant construction, which is designed specifically for waterproofing joints. It is a waterproof, non-aging silicone mass. It is used for sealing joints, cracks, sealing windows and doors. It is well painted. Such sealants may be white, gray or transparent. And here comes the most important rule: DO NOT feel sorry for the sealant, it directly depends on how long the tabletop will last. The inner radius of the seal, which is attached to the sink, should also be treated with silicone. Yes, and do not forget, before gluing the seal to degrease the surface of the sink.
In the people there are still several ways of processing the cuts: apply several layers of paraffin, PVA glue or varnish - until the tabletop stops absorbing more and more new layers of the substance of your choice. Some "craftsmen" pasted over the cut with a self-adhesive film or a wide adhesive tape. In any case, you decide which of the ways to choose, but I would dwell on the progress.
If the tabletop is swollen, then there is only one way to get rid of this flaw: change it under warranty for a new one. That is why, if you bought a ready-made kitchen, use the service assembly. Otherwise, the company will remove all warranty liability.
Drying installation
To avoid water droplets on the particle board in the drying cabinet, it is necessary when buying the latter to pay attention to whether a special tray is attached to it. If it is not observed, then it is better to refuse to buy such a dryer, since water, draining from the plates and falling to the bottom of the cabinet, will inevitably cause its damage. In addition, good ventilation is required. It can be provided either by putting "holey" facades, or by making a small through hole at the top of the cabinet, which can be given a noble look with the help of a socket for wires (these are often used in the manufacture of computer desks).
Kitchen base protection
Use a plastic kitchen base. This element serves as a decorative design of the lower part of the kitchen furniture, closing the gap between the cupboard and the floor. Plastic caps have a groove for attachment to the supports and a seal that protects against the ingress of water and dirt. The base has a number of preferential characteristics: light weight, ease of installation, wide color gamut, aesthetic appearance, heights of 100, 120 and 150 mm, and also not at all afraid of moisture.
Today, the use of recycling waste for the manufacture of secondary materials is very popular. These products include chipboard, which today is used as the basis for the construction of various types of products.
This substance has a good technical performance, which allowed replacing them to some extent, even wood. Handle chipboard special tools that allow you to get the details of certain sizes and shapes. More detail is possible, where you can also purchase these mechanisms.
We use solutions
Chipboard is chambered very often, since it is manufactured in production in sheets of a certain length. Of these, many kinds of different products are subsequently made, ranging from ordinary partitions to complex furniture. This material is often coated (laminated) with special paint.
You can process the end face with several substances:
- 1. Waterproof glue. Do it in the first place in order to protect it from moisture.
- 2. Special sealants. These substances have the same purpose as the previous type.
- 3. Paint. If you need to give a beautiful look to the product, then the end can be covered with any paint, choosing it to match the color of the object.
We use a special tape
All factory-made products from chipboard always have an attractive appearance, but even in them there are ends. To hide them apply a special edgeband. Its attached to the edge of a special tool.
Such products can be mounted at home. This material sticks to the end of the chipboard when heated. This property is used in technological processes.
At home, you can do this with the help of an iron that warms up this product and is attached to the edge of the workpiece.
To give the product an aesthetic shape, the end can be sanded with a special tool and coated with special paint and varnish. In such cases, you can apply different types of fillers, which are designed to work with this type of materials.
Edge processing is a very important process, since in most cases not only the appearance but also the operating time of the entire product depends on it. To obtain high-quality products from chipboard, you should use only special tools that will greatly facilitate the work and allow you to create modern beautiful products.
Video instructions for gluing the edge on the end of the chipboard to help you:
The low cost of chipboard, high performance, versatility of use made them very popular material. The most frequent areas of application are furniture manufacturing and construction. The main enemy of these plates is water - chips increase in volume, the plate swells, warps and crumbles.
At the very beginning of the manufacture of sawdust and shavings after drying impregnated with formaldehyde resins. After pressing, the surface of the plates is laminated, sometimes even lacquered.
But the protection of the surface does not protect the ends through which it enters from moisture penetration. Accumulating inside, water gradually begins to penetrate into the wood fibers, which leads to the destruction of the plate. Therefore, first of all, the ends should be rescued from liquid penetration during the operation period. If they are tightly sealed, the service life of the plates will increase significantly.
Why are the ends exactly the starting point for destruction? Because the production of plates of the required standard sizes, as well as the preparation of pieces of material of various sizes, requires cutting. This violates the integrity of the wood fibers.
Thus, the protection of chipboard from moisture is carried out in three directions:
- impregnation of wood fibers with resins;
- special surface treatment;
- sealing the ends.
The first step on the path of moisture resistance
Already at the beginning of the production of chipboard, a process designed to protect them from water penetration — the so-called resinification of chips — is carried out. Due to this operation, two goals are achieved: saturation of the fibers with resins and their gluing. For most of the plates produced, formaldehyde resins are used, which by definition are already a hydrophobic component of the product.
In cases where even greater moisture resistance is required from the plates, another binder is used, that is, the formaldehyde resin is replaced with urea-melamine resin. It sticks together chips much more firmly, thereby being a stronger barrier to moisture. With the additional introduction of molten paraffin or its emulsion into the chip carpet, the moisture resistance of the particle board is still increasing.
Plate surface treatment
The front and back surfaces of the plate, as the largest areas of contact, can pass through themselves and absorb, accordingly, the greatest amount of liquid without any protection. It will not be superfluous to cover these planes with something moisture-proof. Some of the methods of such coverage are possible only in the factory, some - in the home.
One of the main ways of protection is lamination. When it is on the polished chipboard with high pressure and high temperature fit melamine film. The essence of this process is not in pressing, but in the fact that under these conditions the film polymerizes the surface of the plate, becoming one with it.
There is one more method carried out in the factory - this is laminating. It also applies pressure and heat, but more gentle. Already hardened film is pressed to the glue-covered plate. If lamination is a chemical process, then laminating is mechanical.
At home, often non-laminated chipboard is coated to protect with several layers of paint. Before painting the surface pre-process:
- dust is thoroughly swept from the surface;
- for the first time the plate is coated with hot drying oil;
- then it is done with cold linseed oil to form an outer crust;
- paint on top. In any method of painting it must be remembered that each subsequent layer of paint is applied to the already dried previous one.
There are some more ways to protect against getting wet. For example, a surface that will not be subjected to mechanical stress can be protected as follows: rub with stearin, then heat with a hairdryer. Let it cool and repeat it a couple more times. Or: one part of bituminous varnish interferes with five parts of drying oil. Coverage is carried out twice.
Edge and joint processing
Water is always looking for the lowest place, the recess. And what, if not the deepening, are the joints on the horizontal planes? Especially a lot of such joints in the cabinet furniture, which is made just from chipboard. Kitchen furniture is the same as on the front line: there is plenty of water and there are enough fumes. The most susceptible to moisture are the sink, the cupboard with the dryer, the tabletop, the furniture near and above the kitchen stove.
Cranes all begin to leak. So, in the sink, the most promisingly dangerous place is where a mixer taps into the worktop. This is the place of contact of metal and wood. Not only the leakage of the tap is possible, but also the condensation of water at the point of contact. Therefore, this place is cleaned, blow-dried. Next, apply a layer of PVA glue, after which it dries - silicone. You can build a sealant, it is also a silicone mass, with it from the leakage, even the window frames are sealed.
In the cupboard you should check the presence or absence of the pallet: if it does not exist, the liquid flowing to the bottom of the cabinet will spoil it. For all kitchen furniture where it is possible to get wet, you should take it as a rule: degrease this place and then do not regret the sealant.
To seal the seams, it is better to use sanitary silicone of a suitable shade: no dark mold spots will appear on the surface.
Non-laminated edges of the table top are closed with connecting or end strips. They are metal or plastic. Protection is not so hot, so the pre-end of the tabletop should be treated with silicone. Another method of protection is to apply a varnish or PVA glue to the place of the cut. The self-adhesive films or adhesive tape offered by the construction market cannot be called a reliable protection.
Sealing of chipboard joints on the floor
The difficulty lies in the fact that on the floor the plates are constantly subjected to considerable physical exertion, they “play” relative to each other. For this reason, putty does not want to stick. There are several popular ways to seal such seams.
The seams are covered with epoxy mixed with sawdust. Sawdust is pre-finely sieved. The composition seizes very quickly, so immediately a large amount of such putty should not be harvested. Such protection serves long and reliably. But the price of epoxy is high, and seaming is expensive.
You can replace the epoxy with hot wood glue. It is necessary to mix sawdust in it and walk along the seams.
The effect is achieved even more than with epoxy, as the hot glue penetrates deep inside. This method saves from moisture, and the joint ceases to "play." True, it is advisable not to walk on such a floor for several days, as the wood glue dries for a long time.
Cost of this method is much cheaper. And if the floor is covered with linoleum on top, then you can forget about the damage to the chipboard.
