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Wheatboard
The availability of wheatboard in North America has increased lately, and is used more and more in the display and design industry. The board is made of recycled wheat chaff, with an alternative isocyanate (MDI) binder that uses no formaldehyde, creating an EFB (emission-free board) soaring above industry standards for the highest grade of particle board.
Here are some advantages for using the wheat-based product:
• Formaldehyde and emission free.
• More moisture resistant.
• Superior screw and nail retention.
• Machinable.
• Ideal surface for paints and laminates.
• Superior strength and stiffness.
• 10% lighter than other particle board brands.
Read some of Goldboard®’s findings on wheatboard’s advantages over other materials.
Sawing. Surprisingly, despite straw's much higher silicate content when compared to wood, the Goldboard® sMDF and sHDF dull sawblades less than wooden MDF and HDF of comparable densities. This is difficult to explain. One speculates that straw's silicates are deposited in very thin layers that act less abrasively to sawblade teeth than perhaps a more granular type silicate found in wood. Its springwood/ summerwood striations resulting in bands of low and high densities may also contribute to wood's high tool dulling. Straw's tissue is of an uniformly low density.
High Internal Bond. The high packing efficiency of fibers and flakes of straw creates intimate contacts between neighboring units. With proper bonding, an exceedingly high internal bond (IB) can be achieved. An IB-test measures the tensile strength perpendicular to the plane of the board; its faces are pulled apart by applying tension to steel blocks glued on either board surface. IB measures the quality of the unit-to-unit bonding. The use of the MDI binder in the core layer is, of course, an essential feature. The Goldboard® types 'get by' with resins in the faces only because loading is relatively high and face densities are relatively high. Straw has a natural affinity to straw.
Tight Edge. The combination of high packing efficiency of Goldboard's® constituent units and high IB create a rather 'tight' edge. The term tight implies non-porous, closed, uniform. These are the qualities required by makers of furniture, cabinets, or mouldings when profiling an edge. In fact, MDF was developed in the early 70ies because of its superior edge performance. The customary PB has too rough an edge; a strip of wood or plastic must be attached to PB's edges to satisfy the end user.
Low Stiffness but Enhancements.The sMDF types have a lower stiffness than their wooden equivalents. Straw is not as stiff as wood. Refining causes an irreversible loss in wood's stiffness; the straw's loss is larger yet. By adding unrefined flakes, a remarkable increase in stiffness is achieved. The types sMDF+ have significantly higher stiffness than the wooden MDF. Adding flakes reduces the uniformity of board structure somewhat. But the uniformity of the sMDF+ is still sufficient to qualify as MDF. Tests on coating and laminating the surfaces of sMDF+ types yielded excellent smoothness with no risk of telegraphing by the larger flakes.
Durability.The combination of tight edge and the chemically cross-linking MDI binder gives Goldboard® superior dimensional stability when exposed to water and the weather conditions in general. The competing woodboards are glued with UF or MUF. While Goldboard® does use these resins in its face layers, the high resin loading and face densities do afford protection. The 'weak link' for the woodboards is the relatively low core density. For Goldboard®, core density is equally low (or lower yet) but bonding with MDI imparts excellent durability
Uses
Wheatboard can be used with any application that whose particle board is applicable. The best uses are for cabinets, countertops, shelving, closets and under-layments.
Testing
Wheatboard has gone through rigorous testing and basically falls between particle board and MDF into a category all its own. It is superior to MDF because it is lighter weight and has better moisture resistance. It also takes paint better than particle board because the surface isn’t as porous, and is easier to tool than particle board. Wheatboard is also more elastic and has a stronger internal bond than MDF and particle board
Wheat board meets or exceeds all specifications of ANSI A208.2-94, WheatBoard classification M3.
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