Masonite (also called Quartboard and pressboard ) is a type of hardboard (a kind of engineered wood ) made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers in a process patented by William H. Mason .
25-563: In 1898, a product resembling Masonite ( hardboard ) was first made in England by hot-pressing waste paper. In 1924, Masonite was patented in Laurel, Mississippi , by William H. Mason , who was a friend and protégé of Thomas Edison . In 1929, the company initiated mass production of its product. In the 1930s and 1940s, Masonite was used for applications including doors , roofing , walls , desktops (e.g., Danelectro ), and canoes . It
50-513: A magnet placed over a conveyor belt on which the chips move forward. In the case of, for example, MDF (medium density fiberboard) and not particle board, chips are then steamed to soften them for defibration . Small amount of paraffin wax is added to the steamed chips and they are transformed into fluffy fibers in a defibrator and soon afterwards sprayed with adhesives such as urea-formaldehyde (UF) or Phenol formaldehyde resin (PF). Wax prevents fibers from clumping together during storage. Chips in
75-468: A skin, foil, or fabric such as cloth, suede, leather, or polyvinyl chloride . RSI Direct , a bi-weekly e-newsletter covering the roofing, siding and insulation industries, promotes the use of fiberboard as a coverboard in roof systems: More than two billion square feet of this product have been installed in the U.S. roofing market. Currently, there is no commercially available method to recycle fibreboard, and landfilling and burning for energy are
100-478: A smooth burnished finish. (Later a dry process with two burnished surfaces was also used.) The original lignin in the wood serves to bond the fibers without any added adhesive . The long fibers give Masonite a high bending strength, tensile strength , density, and stability. Unlike other composite wood panels, no formaldehyde -based resins are used to bind the fibers in Masonite. Artists have often used it as
125-438: A substrate. It is used in construction , flooring , furniture , home appliances , automobiles and cabinetry , and is popular among acrylic and oil painters as a painting surface due to its economical price (though it must be coated with gesso or canvas before use). Hardboard has often been used as the surface material in clipboards , especially older models. It is also used as the final layer in many skateboard ramps and
150-806: A support for painting, and in artistic media such as linocut printing. Masonite's smooth surface makes it a suitable material for table tennis tables and skateboard ramps. Masonite is used by moving companies . Among other things, they use it to protect the walls of buildings where they work, and lay on floors to enable smooth rolling of dollies loaded with goods. Masonite is widely used in construction, particularly in renovations where floors are finished prior to other work and require protection. Sheets of 1 ⁄ 8 -or- 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (3.2 or 6.4 mm) Masonite are typically laid over red rosin paper on finished floors to protect them. The Masonite sheets are taped together with duct tape to prevent shifting and to keep substances from leaking through. Masonite
175-475: Is formed using the Mason method, in which wood chips are disintegrated by saturating them with 100-pound-per-square-inch (690 kPa) steam, then increasing the steam or air pressure to 400 pounds per square inch (2,800 kPa) and suddenly releasing them through an orifice to atmospheric pressure. Forming the fibers into boards on a screen, the boards are then pressed and heated to form the finished product with
200-483: Is smooth on both sides. Masonite is produced using the wet process only. In Europe today, the same type of fibreboard product generated by the wet process, is named as Natural Fibre Board , and this is a registered trademark. A product resembling hardboard was first made in England in 1898 by hot pressing waste paper. In the 1900s, fiber building board of relatively low density was manufactured in Canada . At around
225-411: Is sometimes used as a synonym for particle board, but particle board usually refers to low-density fiberboard. Plywood is not a type of fiberboard, as it is made of thin sheets of wood, not wood fibers or particles. Fiberboard, particularly medium-density fiberboard, is heavily used in the furniture industry. For pieces that will be visible, a veneer of wood is often glued onto fiberboard to give it
250-410: Is used as exterior siding. In 1996, International Paper (IP) lost a class action suit brought by homeowners whose Masonite siding had deteriorated. The jury found that IP's Masonite siding was defective. Hardboard Hardboard , also called high-density fiberboard ( HDF ), is a type of fiberboard , which is a pressed wood or engineered wood product. It is used in furniture and in
275-442: Is used extensively in the construction of sets for theater, film, and television. It is especially common in theaters as the stage floor, painted matte black. It is considered one of the best materials for making a musical wobble board . Masonite 4-by-8-foot (1.2 by 2.4 m; 120 by 240 cm) panels are sometimes sawn into 4-inch (100 mm; 10 cm) by 8-foot (2.4 m; 240 cm) strips. These strips are used to form
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#1732776026325300-448: Is widely used as the curved surface of skateboard ramps. Masonite was a popular protective backing for wooden console stereo and television cabinets from the 1960s to the 1980s. Due to its flexibility, Masonite is commonly used by model railroaders for their layouts as fascia , to cover the structural materials used for the layout. Masonite swells and rots over time when exposed to the elements, and may prematurely deteriorate when it
325-502: The half-pipe . Hardboard is also used extensively in theatrical environments, often used as the final painted surface of a stage and on walking surfaces of constructed scenery. Hardboard is also used to make puzzles, game boards, and other toys. Tempered hardboard is a hardboard that has been coated with a thin film of linseed oil and then baked; this gives it more water resistance, impact resistance, hardness, rigidity and tensile strength . An earlier tempering process involved immersing
350-537: The appearance of conventional wood. In the packaging industry, the term "fiberboard" is often used to describe a tough kraft -based paperboard or corrugated fiberboard for boxes. "Fiberboard" is also an intermediate product, an output of a pulp mill used as input for a paper mill . Fiberboard manufacture begins with wood chipping: fresh or recycled wood material is cut and sorted to small pieces of similar size. Chips are washed to remove things such as dirt and sand. Metal scraps such as nails can be removed with
375-527: The binding agent used in this type of fiberboard is an all-natural product, consisting of vegetable starch containing no added formaldehydes. Fiberboard, classified by ASTM C208, Standard Specification for Cellulosic Fiber Insulating Board, has many benefits and is used in residential and commercial construction. Applications include: Fiberboard is also used in the automotive industry to create free-form shapes such as dashboards, rear parcel shelves, and inner door shells. These pieces are usually covered with
400-444: The board in linseed oil or tung oil until it was 5 to 6 percent saturated, and heating to 170 °C (338 °F). Tempered hardboard is used in construction siding. Perforated hardboard , also called pegboard, is tempered hardboard that has a uniform array of 1 ⁄ 8 -or- 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (3.2 or 6.4 mm) holes in it, into which tool-hanging hooks or store fixtures can be placed. Hardboard has become less popular in
425-464: The bonding of the wood fibers requires no additional adhesive, the original lignin in the wood fibers sufficing to bond the hardboard together, although resin is often added. Hardboard is produced in either a wet or dry process. The wet process, known as the Mason Method, leaves one smooth side and one textured side as a wire mesh is used to allow moisture to escape. Dry processed hardboard
450-544: The case of particle board are also sprayed with a suitable adhesive before the next steps. Fibers or chips are arranged into a uniform "mat" on a conveyor belt. This mat is pre-compressed and then hot-pressed. Hot-pressing activates the adhesive and glues the fibers or chips together. Board is then cooled, trimmed, sanded and maybe veneered or laminated . UF resins are dominantly used in the MDF industry because of their low cost and fast curing characteristics. However, pressures on
475-504: The construction industry in recent years due to new environmental targets to procure more sustainable temporary protection materials. Fiberboard Fiberboard ( American English ) or fibreboard ( British English ) is a type of engineered wood product that is made out of wood fibers . Types of fiberboard (in order of increasing density) include particle board or low-density fiberboard (LDF), medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and hardboard or high-density fiberboard (HDF). It
500-441: The construction industry. Hardboard is similar to particle board and medium-density fiberboard , but is denser , stronger and harder because it is made out of exploded wood fibers that have been highly compressed. The density of hardboard is higher than 500 kg/m (31 lb/cu ft), usually about 800–1,040 kg/m (50–65 lb/cu ft). It differs from particle board and medium-density fiberboard in that
525-403: The edge of sidewalks where curved shapes are desired when pouring concrete. Masonite is a popular choice for cake boards for professional cake decorators, since it is a natural product and is strong enough to support multiple-tiered creations such as wedding cakes. To a lesser extent, Masonite is used in guitar bodies, most notably by Danelectro . Due to its low cost and flexibility, Masonite
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#1732776026325550-617: The fiber mat temperatures, molecular weight distribution of PF resins and pressing parameters. As a result, the press times for PF-bonded fiberboard can be made comparable to those for UF-bonded fiberboard. Also, the resin content required for PF-bonded fiberboard is less than 5% to achieve a good board quickly. This is considerably lower than that required for UF-bonded fiberboard. Certain types of fiberboard can be considered "green" building products. Consisting of bio-based, secondary raw materials (wood chip or sugarcane fibers) recovered from within 100 miles (160 km) of manufacturing facilities,
575-543: The same time the first commercially produced MDF was developed in 1966 in Deposit, New York , United States. In the early 1920s, improved methods of compressing wet wood pulp at high temperatures resulted in a higher density product. Unlike solid wood , hardboard is very homogeneous with no grain. A wood veneer can be glued onto it to give the appearance of solid wood . Other overlays include Formica , laminated papers , ceramics, and vinyl . It has many uses, such as
600-433: The use of UF resins are mounting steadily due to potential problems associated with formaldehyde emission. On the other hand, PF resins are more durable and do not emit formaldehyde after cure. The industry has traditionally shied away from using PF resins due primarily to their higher cost and much slower curing rate than UF resins. However, the press times for PF-bonded fiberboard can be substantially reduced by manipulating
625-475: Was sometimes used for house siding. Similar "tempered hardboard" is now a generic product made by many forest product companies. In 1972, the Masonite Corporation entered the door business as a supplier of facings. In 2001, the Masonite Corporation was purchased by Premdor Corporation, a door maker, from its former parent International Paper . It no longer supplies generic hardboard. Masonite
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