A little OT. Has your local Lowes stopped carrying particleboard?

[Kered]

None where I live and we don't have a HD very close. They are making it hard to find a reason to go in there anymore. The plywood my local stocks is honestly so bad I really think that it couldn't get any worse. Some of the the Lowes in larger cities have a little better selection but not by much. If you don't want 2x4ish lumber twisted like a screw or plywood that a fat man could stand on and still not be flat stay away. If only there was an alternative.

Also, yes I am big boned, and have stood on a little plywood in my day.

[billfitzmaurice]

Good wood and Big Box stores are mutually exclusive terms. Real lumber yards that cater to the trade tend to have better selection of higher grade materials. I wouldn't use particle board for anything. I use plywood, mainly Baltic Birch, for cabs that aren't veneered, MDF for cabs that are.

[Kornbread]

In the past, local home builders used a floor/subfloor construction technique but have long since quit that in favor of t&g 3/4" plywood or manufactured wood sheet materiel like Advantech, so all our local lumberyards quit selling particle board years ago. Menards in the next town over still has it. It's cheap and dense and I've used a lot of it building car audio sub boxes.

[a4eaudio]

I have not been to my Lowe's recently but Menard's and HD have particle board. I have not used it for speakers, but am using it to make worktables and slat-walls for the shop. It's better than MDF for some purposes because it is lighter and more resistant to water/moisture.

[jdhill]

I have noticed that Lowe's especially has stopped carrying the 2'x4' 'handy panels' of MDF and PB in favor of a variety of plywoods... but the inventory seems poorly managed wherever I go. I've seen 1/2" MDF full sheets disappearing as well.

[djg]

I like particle board. I have a garage work area with no dust control. I stopped using MDF when I lost access to my old hangar with a Delta saw. Particle board is much easier to clean up.

These are all PSA veneer over particle board save for the Quarktinuum baffles, solid maple.

Menards still hanging in there with all thicknesses of particle board in handi panels and 4x8.

[duronboy]

I bought some melamine-coated sheets of particle board once and didn't edgeband. Between 5 and 10% expansion at the edges. Maybe more. NEVER any direct water contact. I've seen some MDF that can do that too, but it seems less frequent. The last sheet of MDF has scraps in the same places at the particle board and it's doing ok. Made some jigs and tall aux fence for the table saw, and it's still doing ok.

But yeah, baltic birch from a lumber yard and arauco from home depot are good bets. Bite the bullet. Find a way to store it flat and stock up.