Particleboard & thermally-fused laminates: how they're made
Particleboard and thermally-fused laminate panel leader Arauco explains and shows how they make their products.
 
From collection of the wood fiber, to the press, resins and ingredients, drying, cooling, and testing -- the high-tech process begins with 100 percent recycled or recovered wood fiber.
 
Some finished panels continue on to the thermally-fused laminate line to produce Arauco's Prism TFL, where boards are outfitted with a range of solid color, abstracts and woodgrain decorative overlays. The panels are saturated with melamine and other resins to provide adhesion, strength, durability, along with UV and chemical resistance properties. 
 

ARTICLE

Does textured laminate panel look better than the real thing?

Textured, embossed-in-register, thermally-fused laminates and high-pressure laminates are hot items. But are they better than real wood?


One of Arauco's specialties are “embossed-in-register” laminates, in which textures are matched with the underlying décor paper's pattern, and the tiny lines imprinted on the surface follow the lines of the grain.

The company's Taction Oak TFL series utilizes embossed-in-register technology to capture and replicate the natural characteristics of an oak grain texture on the plate itself. Ranging from a light gray hue to deep brown, these designs make a bold statement in many applications, says Arauco.
 

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Profile picture for user rdalheim
About the author
Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].