Whats the best machine for cutter mdf board, cnc router or laser? Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibers, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure.
MDF is generally denser than plywood. It is made up of separated fibres, but can be used as a building material similar in application to plywood. It is stronger and much denser than particle board.
FYI: Comparing to solid wood and MDF, cutting and engraving on engineered woods like particle board and plywood are more complex. Because wood fibres used during synthetic wood manufacture may not be the same type of woods, and maybe combine other materials, so each part’s hardness are not same.
The Materials
Particleboard
This is the generic name for a panel manufactured from lignocellulosic or plant materials. Technically, this is can mean anything from straw or Bagasse (sugarcane stalks) to wood. This material is combined with a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, and then bonded together under heat and pressure. The basic raw materials for particleboard are plant residues or low-quality logs. Some recycled material, where it is economical to use such a substance, is now part of the raw material supply.
MDF, or Medium Density Fiberboard
The same general procedure is employed to manufacture MDF, except that the panels are compressed to a density of 0.50 to 0.80 specific gravity in a hot press by a process in which the entire interfiber bond is created by the added [synthetic resin or other suitable] binder. A wide variety of raw material types can be handled in an MDF plant. These types range from pulp chips to planer shavings to plywood trim to sawdust. Other non-wood materials, such as bagasse, (sugarcane stalks) also make excellent MDF.
Plywood
These panels are made by laying up layers, or plies, of wood so that the grain direction in each ply runs at right angles to the one next to it. Cross-grain construction is what gives plywood its strength and dimensional stability. Standard veneer-core plywood 3/4 in. thick consists of seven plies: two outer veneers, plus five hardwood or softwood plies between them. The layer structure leads to more uniform properties than solid wood, since the effects of grain anisotropy are minimized. The properties of plywood vary with the quality of the constituent layers; typical values are listed below.
