Oriented strand board (OSB) is a type of engineered wood similar to particleboard, formed by adding adhesives and then compressing layers of wood strands (flakes) in specific orientations.
OSB may have a rough and variegated surface with the individual flakes of around 2.5 cm × 15 cm, lying unevenly across each other and comes in a variety of types and thicknesses.
OSB is a material with favorable mechanical properties that make it particularly suitable for load-bearing applications in construction. The most common uses are as sheathing in walls, flooring, and roof decking. OSB is also used in furniture production. It is now more popular than plywood in structural panel market.
Particleboard, also known as chipboard, is an engineered wood product manufactured from wood chips or jute-stick chips and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. In flat-pressed particle board, the chips are mainly parallel to the surface. The chips in the surface layer are thinner than those in the middle layer, so the surface of the particle board is denser and more compact than the middle.
Particleboard has excellent machining characteristics, which is important when post-forming high pressure laminate countertops. Particleboard is used extensively in residential kitchens, playing a role in cabinets, shelving, countertops and floor underlayment.