# Could i make my own particle board? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702 "2016-03-12T00:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/1 "2016-03-12T00:12:30Z")
I have a bunch of cracked lumber, and no good way to dispose of it. Its not really usable for anything, but I was wondering if I could somehow turn it into particle board and make something out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/2 "2016-03-12T00:20:57Z")
Right off the bat, you don’t have the correct glue or the machinery to create the pressure and temperature to get it to set in such a way that it won’t be soggy, warped mess. Watch a youtube video on how it gets made and think about if you could replicate it, even on a small scale. If you ever tried making you’re own ‘paper’ by blending up scraps of old paper, soaking them in water and letting them dry on a screen, I’d imagine it would end up a lot like that. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/3 "2016-03-12T00:29:52Z")
If it’s not treated, it’d be fine for firewood. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/4 "2016-03-12T00:31:19Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > If it’s not treated, it’d be fine for firewood. All of it is treated. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/5 "2016-03-12T00:36:06Z")
If you can afford the massive presses like the ones the big mills use to make your slurry of chips and glue into particle board, sure, you can make your own particle board. For small batches, perhaps you could cobble together your own press from a few dozen hydraulic jacks and all that boiler plate steel you have lying around your garage. ---
**Author:** ![here\_and\_there](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@here\_and\_there](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/here_and_there)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/6 "2016-03-12T20:51:18Z")
You could, but it’s not practical. Industry uses some toxic glue. It probably comes cheap. You would have to use “normal” glue. Even with the cheapest wood glue you can find, it is already not worth it. Add the labour time, equipment, failed attempts… And the result will be inferior to plain wood. Unless you want to achieve a very specific aesthetic result. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/7 "2016-03-12T21:10:03Z")
Use it as shims for door/window squaring. Big enough for tent pegs? Whittle into clothes pins? Other than that, I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-make-my-own-particle-board/748702/8 "2016-03-13T11:05:11Z")
If it’s treated, there’s a lot of arsenic in it(hence the green sheen on some lumber) Do you really wanna’ mess around with it?