How to make a furniture panel with your own hands?

Furniture made of natural wood is very expensive, so not everyone can buy it. And such analogues as MDF and chipboard are quite short-lived, therefore the shelf life of the products reaches only a few years. The most acceptable and budget option is the manufacture of furniture from a furniture board. In addition to the fact that this material is quite durable, it also harmoniously fits into the interior of the room, regardless of the style of the design. But, unfortunately, due to the standard sizes, the furniture board is not always suitable for the production of non-standard furniture models, so it is much easier to make it yourself. If you still decide, then our experts will tell you how to make a furniture panel with your own hands at home.

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What is a furniture board?

Furniture board is one of the types of wood materials that are produced by gluing planed blocks made exclusively of wood. This material is notable for its rather high strength and environmental friendliness, due to which it is equated to wood massif. The difference is only in a peculiar chess pattern, which is obtained due to the connection of the bars. Furniture panel is used not only for the manufacture of wooden furniture, but also in the decoration and construction sectors.

Important! Working with a furniture board requires at least basic carpentry skills and knowledge, since improper processing or use of this material can lead to deformation of an already finished product.

Advantages of using a furniture board:

• Environmental friendliness. It is not an allergen and does not emit toxic substances into the environment.
• Finished furniture looks very nice and is similar to products that are made from solid wood.
• Practicality. Even if there is any damage to the fittings, due to the uniformity of the structure of the tree, it can be easily repaired.
• High operational life of finished products.
• Due to the natural structure of the tree, aesthetic properties are improved.
• The formation of cracks, shrinkage and various defects during the operation of finished products from the furniture panel is not characteristic.
• The ability to create a future piece of furniture of the right size and model.
• Furniture made of this material regulates the level of humidity and absorbs harmful substances.

Varieties of furniture panels

Depending on the manufacturing technology, the following types are distinguished:

• Whole type. Such a shield consists of spliced ​​lamellas, the combination of which forms a solid surface. Due to its integrity and strength, this species is also called single-layer or massive. For its manufacture using exclusively wooden slats, bars or boards. They are glued together only in the direction of the fibers. The thickness of the finished shield varies from 1.5 to 6 centimeters.
• Finger-joined type. This type is made exclusively of small bars, which are glued together along the length or width. The thickness of such a shield varies from 1.1 to 6 centimeters.

Important! In a spliced ​​type furniture panel, the number of middle layers should only be odd and with strict symmetry during installation.

Also, depending on the quality of wood processing, furniture panels are divided into classes:

• Aa;
• AB
• A-C;
• Bb;
• Bc;
• C-C.

Important! In this case:

• Grade A - a complete imitation of the natural texture of a tree;
• Grade B - surface uniformity, absence of defects;
• Grade C - the presence of small knots and mechanical damage.

The highest class provides for the complete absence of chipping, various deformations and damaged areas on the surface. A middle class furniture panel is characterized by a low price and the presence of a small number of knots on the surface. A low class is characterized by the use of low-quality wood and the presence of knots and surface defects.

Materials Based

Before gluing the furniture board with your own hands, you should take into account the type of wood that is used for its manufacture:

• Pine. Due to the presence of a large amount of glue in the wood, the finished furniture board is characterized by high strength and elasticity.
• Oak. Such boards are designed for the production of lifting frames, as they have a fairly high strength. Due to its beautiful texture, they are an ideal option for making furniture. Its only drawback is the high price.
• Larch. Also suitable for further furniture manufacturing. It has a beautiful wood texture, a wide variety of different color shades. The main advantage of such a material is its high resistance to moisture, and accordingly - it is resistant to decay.
• Chipboard. Furniture panels made of this material are characterized by rather low strength, budget price and high exposure to moisture.

Important! Particleboard based furniture panel is not safe due to the presence of binding resins in this material.

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How to make a wooden furniture panel with your own hands?

The process of manufacturing a furniture board is quite simple, even at home. The most important thing is the availability of the right tools and the ability to use them.

Required Inventory

To work with wood, you should prepare the following tools and materials:

• Circular Saw;
• Drill;
• Milling machine;
• Long ruler
• Power Planer;
• Belt and surface grinding machines;

Important! If you do not have the opportunity to purchase these machines, then an emery cloth worn on the block will be an excellent analogue of them. A significant drawback of this method is the length of the grinding process.

• Reysmus;
• Roulette;
• Clamps;
• Level;
• Hammer;
• Pencil;
• Lumber;
• Adhesive for furniture panels;
• Plywood or thin slats.

Important! When choosing lumber for the manufacture of furniture panels should take boards with a thickness of 2.5 centimeters. This is due to the fact that they will be subject to grinding before gluing, due to which the width of the bar will decrease by 0.5 centimeters.

Step-by-step instructions for gluing the furniture board

After you have prepared the necessary equipment, you can start directly to work.

• Lay the boards in the right position so that the annual rings are most optimally positioned. Cut off the ends of the boards.

Important! In order not to forget the correct layout of the boards, draw a triangle on the surface before analysis.

• Next is the bonding process. In order for it to pass much faster, you can fold the boards into a pack, immediately coat several ends with glue.

Important! So that the glue does not dry quickly, and you have more time to collect the workpiece, you can wrap the oiled areas with a plastic bag.

• Using a clamp, peel off glued wood.
• Dry the finished workpiece and grind it, while removing traces of glue.

Important! To remove the wood pile from the finished product, you can cover the surface with water, due to which it will rise and it will be easy to remove it during grinding.

The main methods of joining the plots of the shield

In order to cope with the warpage of the shield caused by the lumbering of the lumber, you can use the following methods:

• Bonding lamella on dowels or the use of finishing tips. This type of fastening is used to fix short boards. In this case, a tip with a groove-comb assembly is used, which is connected flush with the lamellas.

Important! Depending on the further use of the product, the tip may be protruding above one or both layers.

• If the future product will be in a room with high humidity, it is not worth connecting the workpiece with glue. In this case, it is best to use rallying to compensate for the swelling of the wood.
• Depending on the future product, for the manufacture of the workpiece, you can use framing strips.
• Powerful pairing is used if the future product will be used in conditions of high humidity and with constant mechanical stress.
• Bonding on dowels. This method requires the use of a drill stand and an abutment so that the holes are positioned with perfect accuracy. This is due to the fact that due to improper placement, the geometry of the future product will be violated.

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Useful Tips

In order for your work to progress easily, and the finished product will turn out the way you wanted to see it, we offer you some useful tips that will greatly facilitate the process.

• When choosing material for the manufacture of the shield, try to pick up bars with a small amount or complete absence of knots.
• For a more neat appearance of the future product and reduce warpage of the board, try to keep the thickness of the board to the maximum.
• Alternate the orientation of the tree rings.
• Choose boards or bars with the presence of straight lines in the texture of the picture. This is due to the fact that such material is less warped.
• Before gluing the workpiece, form ridges and dowels on the edges of the plots. This way you align the front of the parts.
• To avoid sagging, use pressure bars during gluing.

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Stock footage

Independent manufacture of furniture panels is a rather painstaking process. But if you have at least a little practice working with wood, you can make a blank for the manufacture of various pieces of furniture quite easily and in a short time. The most important thing is to follow the above instructions, thanks to which you will not only create a high-quality product, but also significantly save the family budget.