Glossary: Chipboard

A composite wood material made of large flakes of various woods glued together in random patterns under pressure to produce a large sheet.  Chipboard is reasonably stable and quite cheap, therefore it is used by low-end furniture manufacturers for veneered panels.  Often the covering is a wood grained plastic, not wood.  Chipboard offers low strength, does not hold screws well and swells if it absorbs water.

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