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Today's How Hardboard Is Used American Hardboard Association Today’s Hardboard TheThe Source Source This Introduction to Hardboard is designed to But did you know, for example, that hard- No other industry makes more complete use acquaint you with this most versatile of board is practically a 100% wood product of this great American natural resource. building materials. converted to fibers which are permanently Hardboard is made almost wholly from bonded under heat and pressure into wood and not just from logs or roundwood. You may be aware of some of the many hard- panel form? Wood chips and board trimmings, once board products around you. And perhaps wastes of the lumber industry, are now rou- you have already worked with hardboard, to Or that hardboard products are available in tinely saved for processing into this most build a birdhouse or install a "storage wall" many forms other than familiar "brown versatile of home building materials. for tools above your workbench. board" including sophisticated woodgrains and embossed surfaces for exterior and As well as efficiently utilizing the waste prod- interior uses? ucts of related forest product industries, American Hardboard manufacturers main- Or that hardboard has superior physical tain and manage more than one million properties to most materials it has replaced, acres of forest land in soft and hardwoods. and usually costs less? Look inside and learn many more interesting facts about Today's How hardboard is used. Hardboard. American hardboard manufacturers pro- duce more than 7-billion square feet of Making wood even more hardboard every year, for a thousand-and- of a resource... one different products: from prefinished wall panelings to furniture components; "Waste no wood" makes good sense as a bat- from today's widest choice of factory-primed tle cry for all of us concerned with ecology. and factory-finished exterior sidings to a It is also a basic doctrine of hardboard pro- variety of utility boards for home and indus- duction in the U.S. today. try -solid and perforated. From do-it-yourselfers to professional builders, Today's Hardboard is a "how to" material. It is the happy medium for people who make almost anything. How hardboard is made. Hardboard is made from wood chips con- verted to fibers which are permanently bond- ed under heat and pressure into a panel. The wood fibers are combined with natural and synthetic binders and other additives that improve certain properties. Different hardboards have different fiber formula- tions, accounting for characteristic variations in product density, thickness and finishing properties, for almost unlimited uses. Hardboard, made from wood fibers, should not be confused with particleboard which is Official Definition... made from wood chips and particles which are not refined into a distinct fiber. Hardboard is a generic term for a panel manufactured Particleboard production is a "dry" process. primarily from interfelted ligno-cellulose fibers consolidat- Hardboards, on the other hand, are pro- ed under heat and pressure in a hot press to a density of duced by both a "wet" or "dry" process. An at least 31 lbs. per cubic foot. The inter-fiber bond is pri- abbreviated and generalized description of marily achieved through the action of the lignin mecha- both processes follows. nism. Other materials may be added during manufacture to improve certain properties, such as stiffness, hardness, finishing properties, resistance to abrasion and moisture, as well as to increase strength, durability and utility. The step-by-step story of hardboard 1. Removing bark change in pressure between the inside and hardboard. Multiple hydraulic presses are the outside of the chip causes it to explode heated by hot water, hot oil or steam. The Some hardboard manufacturers begin with into fiber bundles. This reduces the need combination of applied heat and pressure roundwood or logs. Others start “one step for further refining. welds the fibers back together and produces ahead” with saw mill wood residues (which properties unattainable in natural wood. need no “debarking”). Still others begin the The amount of press time, temperatures manufacturing process “two steps ahead” by 4. Refining and pressures vary widely, depending on the using prechipped wood from other sources. The softened chips are fed into refiners process and physical properties of the In all cases, the sequence is the same, where opposite rotating grinding disks board being produced. “Smooth one side” regardless of the locations in which these shred them into fibers. Small amounts of board is delivered to the presses on a wire preparatory processes occur. chemicals may be added at this stage to improve strength and impart improved mesh screen (hence the familiar “weave” moisture resistance to the finished product. pattern found on the reverse side of the “Barking” of logs is usually desirable to Fiber leaving the refiners is conveyed by air S1S hardboard). “Smooth two sides” board insure quality control and uniformity of or water depending on the type of forming (S2S) is hot-pressed between two smooth appearance in the finished product. It is that is used. plates. All boards emerge from the hot achieved either (1) mechanically by cutting presses with an extremely low moisture con- (2) hydraulically by high speed jets of water, 5. Forming hardboard tent. Some are next tempered-roll coated or (3) by tumbling logs together in a large, with oil, and baked at 290˚-340˚ F. The formation of felting of the fibers to rotating steel drum. Tempering increases hardboard's hardness, form a mat can be achieved by either a wet strength and water resistance. 2. Reduction and preparation or a dry process. Debarked roundwood or wood residues are 7. Humidifying The wet process employs a continuously next sent to the “chipper”, where they are To prevent post-press warping or buckling, traveling mesh screen, onto which the reduced by whirling knives into uniform the boards are conveyed through a humidi- soupy pulp flows rapidly and smoothly. chips about the size of a man's thumbnail. (A fier or stored on racks in a humidity cham- Water is drawn off through the screen and common chip size is 5/8" wide by 3/4" long.) ber. This raises the moisture content to then through a series of press rolls with approximate atmospheric humidity. wringing action similar to that of an old- Chips must be screened to prepare them Although hardboards are humidified, they fashioned washing machine. for defibration. Oversized chips are should be allowed to adjust to local atmos- returned for re-chipping. Sawdust and other pheric conditions before being installed. fine particles are sifted and saved for use as In the dry felting process, comparatively dry fuel in the power plant. Acceptable chips fibers are laid out in much the same way 8. Trimming (ready for defibration) are conveyed to stor- but using air instead of a water medium. Tungsten carbide tipped saws trim boards to age bins. Nothing is wasted. Air-formed mats emerge much thicker and standard sizes. (True to the hardboard softer than wetformed ones, and require industry's “No Waste” philosophy, even these 3. Cooking more care in loading them into the press. trimmings are recycled for useful purpose.) Wood chips are cooked under heat and Sheets may be cut to any size a customer pressure to soften them and dissolve some 6. Pressing in hydraulic wants. Also, hardboard can be fabricated of the natural resin in the wood. This allows presses and finished in a variety of ways. the chips to be more easily reduced to From this point on, wet and dry process pro- After all operations and final inspection fibers in the refining process. In the “explo- duction procedures are virtually identical. have been completed, the boards are sion” method of digestion, the pressure is wrapped and sent to the warehouse for built up to high levels and then released Pressing under heat (380˚-550˚ F.) and pres- shipment to customers. through a quick release valve. The sudden sure (500-1500 P.S.I.) puts the “hard” in The step-by-step story of hardboard 1. Removing bark 2. Reduction/ 3. Cooking 5. Forming hardboard 6. Pressing 7. Humidifying 8. Trimming preparation 4. Refining Hardboard: an extremely versatile material It's siding. It's paneling. And things you'd never suspect! Of the products shown here, how many had As a wood-base product, it follows that hard- Finishes can be applied in many ways: knife you already associated with hardboard? board can be sawed, routed, shaped and coat, roller coat, spray, curtain coat or dip. drilled with standard woodworking tools. Clear or pigmented finishes include stains, Durability, strength, surface smoothness, Indeed, because of its grainless uniformity penetrating sealer, shellac, latex base paints, superb machining and finishing qualities-all of texture, working with hardboard is usual- oil base paints, textured or water-thinned help account for hardboard's unique versa- ly easier than working with lumber. paints, lacquer, synthetics and wax. tility that helps make it the preferred base material for so many and diverse products. Hardboard can be securely glued or fas- No other material is so readily available in tened with screws, staples or nails. the range of wood-grain finishes, custom Hardboard is grainless, with uniform thick- Hardboard can also be laminated with plas- patterns and mix-or-match colors that hard- ness, density and appearance. It resists mar- tic films, high-pressure laminates and board users today take for granted. ring, scuffing, and abrasion, as well as veneers. It can even be bent, depending on changes in temperature and humidity. the type of board, thickness and the radius of curvature desired. Hardboad: A Closer Look The uses for hardboard are diverse.
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