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A core group of industry pioneers are advancing the development and carving out the market for lightweight board.
Like many innovations, lightweight board’s journey into the mainstream has been about timing. Originally developed for the aerospace industry, the material was launched into the home furnishings sphere in the 1980s to a new breed of consumers who wanted furniture to be a moveable feast at a price they could easily afford.
Another major leap came in 2006 when the Egger Group, based in St. Johann, Austria, pioneered large-scale frameless lightweight board production by launching its Eurolight® line. Egger, still the leading European producer, was instrumental in further developing and advancing the product and the market.
In its product information, Egger says that, from a thickness of 23 mm upwards, Eurolight®, with a 3 mm surface layer, is less expensive than particleboard. With a surface layer thickness of 8 mm, the lightweight board is cheaper at thicknesses of 38 mm and above, giving Eurolight® honeycomb board economic advantages in addition to savings in material, transport and logistics costs.
Guiding light Egger built the world's first large-scale industrial production facility for making the boards at St. Johann with equipment provided by Siempelkamp Handling Systems (SHS), the groundbreaker in developing the production machinery and technology. (See page 00 for a plant profile).
For the Eurolight® face layer, Egger uses 3, 4, or 8 mm particleboard face layers which it produces in its particleboard operations. The 3 mm product is sold with raw surfaces, the 8 & 4 mm product is offered with decorative melamine, foil or primer coatings.
 The first lightweight board producer in Canada, Panolite, located in Lac Megantic, Quebec, uses face layers of particleboard or MDF for its standard products. The board made with 3/8’’ (9.53mm) particleboard is available in finished 4 ft x 8 ft or 5 ft x 8 ft panels in thicknesses from 1-1/4 in to 2-1/4 in. in ¼ in increments.
The board using ¼ in (6.35mm) MDF face layers is available in 4 ft x 8 ft and 5 ft x 9 ft panels in several thicknesses from 1 in to 3 inches. The honeycomb paper cell used is 1/2’’ diameter (12.7mm).
Andre Paradis, Panolite sales manager, adds that different layers and finishes are available, in fact, “there are many possibilities.” |
