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We see lots of furniture made from particle board now. Many people, especially those who sell particle board, are convinced, or at least they're trying to convince the consumer that particle board is better than real wood, because it's flatter and smoother, etc. I'm not among those who are conviced!!
I have to 'fess up that we have some particle board furniture. I'm writing this on a computer inside a particle board computer armoire and we have three identical armoires in our computer room. They've been in service for about five years and are holding up very well.
I think the key to better particle board furniture is the fasteners used. Particle board fasteners are different than real wood furniture fasteners. Screws used to fasten particle board have a larger pitch, more distance between the threads, than those for regular wood. The pitch refers to the distance between the threads on a screw.
Metric is figured differently, but looks and works the same. I stay comfortably dumb about metrics. As a ripened septuagenarian I don't see any reason to clutter my brain with metrics, since all measurements I've had to do with all my life have used inches and their relatives.
Better particle board furniture will have a minimum of screws holding it together, as screws of any type tend to pull out of particle board. The better furniture fasteners will go clear through the particle board or will have a larger diameter machine type screw receiver with the screw going through the piece being held and into the piece being joined to with the screw receiver imbeded in it.
You'll find some furniture fasteners below that will take care of most of your particle board furniture fastening jobs.
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