Talk:Oriented strand board

How does OSB differ from chipboard or particle board?

"There is debate"

While I like the even-handedness of "there is debate" over the environmental impact of OSB, I don't like the fact there's no second "hand" described. Or listed. Or implied. Just, "on the one hand," OSB can be made from young and/or fast-growing (lower quality) wood. And they don't emit much formaldehyde, which in the U.S. as a chemical would generally not be capitalized unless it's a brand name or something.

Where's the "on the other hand"? As it is, this is literally an unbalanced section.

Also, there should be links to particle board and other (outdated, obsolescent) wood product technology which have been largely shunted aside by the cheaper, more capable OSB.Eh Nonymous 18:47, 22 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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On the environmental debate there are many topics for discussion. OSB is made from wood that was previously considered "non-commercial" and often left to rot or just not harvested. This is can be considered environmentally good or bad depending on your point of view. The wood itself is a renewable resource which is environmentally good compared to the alternatives of steel and plastic that originate from non-renewable resources. It is also, arguably, a method of sequestering carbon dioxide (at least in the mid term) as it prevents the wood from breaking down and releasing the stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere; but the manufacturing process (at least in the States) releases carbon dioxide from the heat energy sources required to manufacture the product and from the RTO (regenerative thermal oxidizer) required by the government authorities to destroy the VOC's (volatile organic compounds) released in the manufacturing process.

On the OSB, Chipboard front these are two different products with largely different uses. Chipboard is made from small particles of wood bonded with resin whereas OSB is made from larger flakes of wood bonded with resin. Chipboard is primarily used for furniture and interior architectural fittings and fixtures whereas OSB is a structural panel primarily used for North American style residential and low rise commercial construction. The overlap in use is a small percentage of total production and examples would be subfloor, pallet and packaging applications where chipboard sometimes gets used instead of OSB. This is however more prevalent in markets outside of North America. (Chipboard and Particleboard are the same thing).

A. Johnson

I concur, if there is a debate, let's hear both sides. I don't know anything about OSB, and I certainly learned nothing about the 'debate' on it's environmental impact from this article. I'm adding a NPOV tag. Dlabtot 14:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

'Buyers should ask whether zinc borate is added to their purchase.'

Why? What are the pros and cons of added zinc borate? 89.240.15.82 08:24, 29 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

zinc borate may have harmful emissions, both in its production and in its emission from OSB. However, structural insulated panels are relatively hard to replace so inhibiting beetle infestation etc would be a feesible option in terms of life cycle assessment of the building its used on.

Not all Borate compounds are hazardous: Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate is an emission free [1] low to zero adsorption [2][3] alternative that is recommended for application in wood construction as a prevenative treatment for wood boring insects and prevents/ kills fungi. Na₂B₈O₁₃4H₂O The material is available from a number of manufacturers: Nisus Corp. [4], Termite Pruf [5],Solubore [6], and Board Defense [7] . James Hade 21:24, 14 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

WOOD-FLAKE GRAIN ORIENTATION

The article states, "It is manufactured in wide mats from cross-oriented layers of thin, rectangular wooden strips compressed and bonded together with wax and resin adhesives (95% wood, 5% wax and resin)".

Of all the OSB which I have ever seen, the most that can be said is that perhaps slightly more of the flakes are oriented to the long axis on the visible layer of a 4 x 8-Ft sheet. This is counting any flake which is at less than 45-deg to the long axis. Who knows what goes on inside a few layers ?

I think that most users will find the properties of these sheets to be very close to uniform in all directions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.214.128.139 (talk) 19:37, 8 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]