Particle board vs. plywood

Can someone post any unbiased info from an outside source that the US imports most of it's wood from Canada or China? I do not think their are a lot of pine or fir forests in China.
 
:lol:
 
Uhmm... there are lots of pine trees in china... the mountains there are mostly coniferous. I would have no idea about importing trees though. There is even a species called Chinese Fir but I think it is different than American Fir though.

Edit> take a look at http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol...es/{A6FE5CC1-8E06-414D-B91F-E1DF5B18C4D0}.htm which states about the species Pinus:
Mexico has by area the greatest diversity with 42 species and 18 infraspecific taxa, followed by China with 22 species and 6 infraspecific taxa and California (USA) with 17 species and 3 infraspecific taxa. Other centres are in the SE United States, the Mediterranean and SE Europe.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Yes, but I'm looking for proof of importation quantities.
 
if you can seal the ends of the particle board, or get some countertop material (the white stuff) it shouldnt be a problem but i dont like working with it. i always tend to over engineer stuff like this so i only use the heaviest thickest stuff i can find and i never use particle board.
 
Wow! Good discussion. As far as importing wood from China is concerned I have no hard data but I would tend to doubt it - if you are talking about raw wood vs. finished products. Wood in China is scarce. Forests in China are also a big scarce. Much of Inner Mongolia is dessert now because of deforestation and many parts of China are following suit. The main staple here in building materials are bricks and mortar. I think it highly likely, however, that the greatest source of wood furniture imports is China. I have been to some factories in China and seen how they work. Most of the furniture uses pressed wood, even though it looks like hardwood from the outside. Chinese plywood, as I have found it, is actually stick timber machined on two surfaces with a thin layer of veneer on the outer and inner flush surfaces. To give you an idea of the strength...I once had a piece that was about 40 inches by 32 inches leaning against a chair. Someone bumped the chain, the plywood fell on the floor and broke (almost neatly) into two pieces. I saw a sheet of 3/4" plywood in China once...it was the second highest grade and would normally sell in the U.S. for about $50 but in this Chinese hardware store they wanted more than US$ 100 for it.

My original thoughts for using some kind of wood other than plywood was for building a long tank. I was thinking of using fiber or particle board with 2x2 reinforcements (this kind of lumber is reasonably sound and not too expensive) and then covering it with a thin layer of acrylic - enough to protect the wood but not thick enough to support the weight of the water. It sounds to me like fiber board would be a better option...but, given my design and thinking, do you think particle board is completely out of the question?
 
I personally would never build a tank with particle board--I just don't think this is the place you want to be economizing on your materials. How bad can the incremental cost be?

I also don't think lining it with sheets of acrylic would be the best way to go. For one thing, you will have to have absolutely watertight seams. I think a better option is to use fiberglass fabric and epoxy.

Just my $.02.
 
Bob,
There was a report in a trade mag(Wood Digest, I think)that gave the totals you are asking for. I remeber it stating something like Canada accounts for 70 some percent of US lumber imports...I'm still looking for the article...
If you feel like doing the math???...The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database has a search engine that allows you to veiw the totals to and from the country of choice. http://comtrade.un.org/db/default.aspx
 
I would not use particle board to build a tank. It has good compression strength, but is not very good when pressure is applied from the sides. There is no grain in it at all and would need way to much bracing. Fiberboard is much stronger and has some "grain" if it can be called that and could probably be used much more successfully. For the amount of water pressure that is exerted to the sides of a tank I would definately use plywood over particle board or fiberboard. I am sure they could be used, but for the amount of bracing that would be needed, it would probably be cheaper to just use plywood which is stronger.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom