Expert: maura macaluso - 8/27/2009

Question
Since you answered a question regarding press board desk repair in 2007, there have been improvements in glue technology. Do you still regard repair of breaks in press board furniture as basically hopeless if it is meant to bear weight?

Answer
Hi Lar,  Here is my take on this and understand it is only my opinion as I don't really attempt any repairs on pressboard routinely though I have once or twice.  Yes Glues have advanced in their technologies over the years, namely gorilla glues, wood glues and epoxies. You get no argument from me there. But in talking about repairing pressboard, first we must consider exactly what pressboard is and then we have to figure in the skill of the person who is attempting the repair and the equipment that they have on hand.  Pressboard is really composed of waste wood which otherwise would have been discarded.  It is ground up into small sliver-like bits.  It is then soaked in a resin-type glue,then weight pressed and heat pressed into slabs. It is then encased in a fake wood veneer-like product.  It is the resin coupled with the veneer-like sheath that gives it strength.  When addressing a weight bearing point, a metal or plastic collar is usually put through the pressboard and then the screw(or small metal dowel, wood dowel or something similar) is attached through the metal collar.  This gives it the needed strength to bear whatever its load weight is.   Pressboard furniture by its design will never be as strong as real wood.  This is why there are no pressboard chairs or couches.  Can I repair pressboard to the point where its load bearing is adequate?? Probably.  Most decent woodworkers should be able to do it. But can the average person?? Probably not.  It is not just the glue or resin which gives the pressboard load bearing points its strength.  A good glue job in which the glue is forced into all voids in the fracture then would need to be clamped securely and correctly from a multitude of angles and if the veneer-like sheath has been compromised, that also must be addressed and restored in order to have any hope of doing a decent repair.  Glue, when it is clamped will squeeze out all over the place(as it is supposed to in a proper glue-up) and that issue also needs addressing.  Can it be fixed?  Yes, but a  lot of times it cant depending on how severe the damage is.  My general answer regarding the repair of pressboard is, why bother and for the skill level of most DIY folks, I wouldn't recommend it at all.  It was not manufactured to be repaired and in most cases is cheap enough to replace.  I would be very nervous about placing a 150 lb TV on top of a pressboard stand even if I had repaired it.  For the purposes of this forum in which the average person is writing in, people for the most part with very little repairing experience or knowledge of the specifics of the engineering of pressboard, while I would never discourage their attempting a repair, I want them to understand that it may never be fixed enough to restore the full weight bearing properties of the original piece of pressboard.  I hope that gives you a little insight on why I answer the way I do in this forum.  Thanks for the question and have a great day.     Maura  www.Carvinginnyc.com