Cardboard Lumber

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
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Cardboard Lumber
by theRIAA on May 2, 2009
Table of Contents
intro:   Cardboard Lumber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
step 1:   Types of Saws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
step 2:   How to get Cardboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
step 3:   Prepare the Cardboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
step 4:   Stack the Cardboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
step 5:   Get some Glue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
step 6:   Glue! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
step 7:   Wait... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
step 8:   Cut! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
step 9:   Honeycomb Plywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
step 10:   Build!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
intro:  Cardboard Lumber
How would you like an incredibly strong, cool, and cheap building material for making lightweight tables, chairs, shelves, or anything else you can think of. Reusing
cardboard to make furniture has always been a good idea, but the results I've seem have been either incredibly complex, or shoddy looking.
By laminating sheets of cardboard together into a large block and cutting this up with a table, or circular saw, you can create cardboard lumber of any dimensions you
want: 2x4s, 2x8s, 4x4s. If you alternate the grain of the corrugations you can create plywood. If you glue your lumber together end-to-end you can create strong
honeycomb-like boards.
You will only need three things to create cardboard lumber:
1) A Saw
2) Lots of cardboard
3) Glue... lots of glue
Image Notes
1. I cut some over-sized mortise and tenon joints with a jigsaw so the legs
could bend out, adding to the stability if I didn't glue it.
Image Notes
1. after splitting down the middle and cutting the ends square. One will be the
bench top and the other will be cut in 1/2 as the legs. The outside is dry but the
middle is still soaked. They need a day or two in the sun to become rigid again.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. finished. You can see the holes filled in on top. I stained it with just danish
oil. It adsorbed nicely and dried very shinny. I did not seal it with anything.
step 1: Types of Saws
Table Saw: The best saw you could possibly use to do this is a table saw. You can adjust a table saw's fence to help you cut perfectly uniform lumber out of your
cardboard block. This allows you to easily mass-produce cardboard lumber. Because of a table saws fence, you should be able to cut lumber twice as thick as the max
height of your blade by cutting once, and then flipping your cardboard block over and cutting through entirely.
Circular Saw: If you're really good at cutting straight lines and have no other option then I guess you could give it a try.
Hand Saw: Possible, but too labor intensive for me.
Band Saw: If your band saw is as powerful as a circular saw than go for it, this could open interesting options.
Chain Saw: Messy...
No Saw: Unfortunately for people without access to saws, this instructable is not for you. I know it looks cool and all, but it's just not gonna work out.
Image Notes
1. about 1 and 3/4"
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
step 2: How to get Cardboard
Super Moral and Totally legal free cardboard:
Save up cardboard from boxes your family uses. You'll be surprised how fast it adds up.
Go around town and ask any businesses if they have any cardboard you could take. It will likely be already broken down for you.
Super moral and Mostly legal free cardboard:
If you're in a hurry, or just lazy, you can drive around the back of stores and look through their recycling dumpsters for cardboard. Be warned though that dumpster diving
is a crime, but most people will be fine with you hauling away some of their trash.
Maybe legal and moral free plastic cardboard:
Those corrugated plastic advertising and campaign signs scattered around your neighborhood are considered litter/unclaimed property in *some* areas. Snatch a bunch
of them up fast and you'll have an awesome start to rock solid, corrugated plastic lumber (Be sure to use glue designed for plastic though. Wheatpaste won't work.)
Most of my cardboard came from my school cafeteria and my family's recycle.
step 3: Prepare the Cardboard
I will be making a large solid block of cardboard with all the corrugations pointed the same way. If you want to make classic plywood, alternate the corrugations
throughout the block. The second way could be stronger, but I'm going to make it this way because it looks nicer.
You have to cut your cardboard so that each single layer lays flat, and is completely filled with cardboard. The look and strength of your lumber will all depend on how
well you cut your cardboard layers up. It would be best to have all cardboard meet at hard, squared off corners.
To prepare your raw cardboard boxes, you have to cut all of them into flat rectangles, removing all tape and anything you can to make them just cardboard rectangles.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
step 4: Stack the Cardboard
Before you glue everything together, stack the cardboard in a neat pile. It's okay if there's a couple little gaps, we're just making sure we have enough. I wanted to make
a 4'x4' square of cardboard the thickness of how deep my saw could cut.
Now is a good time to estimate the sq. ft. of cardboard and see how much you can build.
Image Notes
1. this pile is only 2'x4' and I wanted to overshoot to be sure.
step 5: Get some Glue
You have a couple options here, and by a couple I mean exactly two:
Wheatpaste: At less than a buck a gallon, this is what I will be using. You can view my wheatpaste instructable here, or basically heat 1:4 part flour/water until it get's
thick. Wheatpaste, when made properly and applied correctly will be pretty much as strong as the glue that holds the corrugations of the cardboard together (they use a
starch glue, white flour is starch...). It's used by paper machers and also graffiti artists to post paper pictures to concrete walls and create a rock hard irremovable poster. I
would recommend adding any bacteria deterrents you have (see instructable).
1:1 Wood Glue: You might be able to find a gallon of wood glue at your local hardware store for about $10 if you're lucky. This should be diluted with water 1:1 because
we're covering such a large area, and only want a thin coat, and also to help the glue soak into the cardboard. This comes out to $5 per gallon. The advantages of this is
it's much stronger, the corrugations will always rip before the wood glue seams, and is easier to make and apply (but not much). After doing this with wheatpaste, I would
recommend this way, simply because the wheatpaste is not as sticky as it needs to be.
Note: You could also use Wallpaper paste I guess; it comes in a powder at the hardware store.
You will need a minimum 2 gallons of either to properly glue the amount of cardboard I am doing.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
step 6: Glue!
Lay our your cardboard on a flat surface and get your first layer ready. Apply a VERY large amount of glue to one section by POURING it on the surface and spreading it
evenly. If you think you used too much, then you almost have enough glue on. Now apply glue to the piece to be put on for the second layer. Don't think of this as glueing
cardboard together! Think of it as paper mache WITH cardboard! Lots of glue! Continue fitting cardboard together neatly and gluing it until you reached your last layer and
you're out of cardboard.
My 4x8ish block was a little thin, so I cut it down the middle and doubled it up.
Image Notes
1. these gaps must be fixed soon! work fast!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. cutting the pile down the middle before I dump glue all over everything and put
them together.
step 7: Wait...
Clamp down your pile, or stack a bunch of things on top. I would wait at least a couple hours in the sun. Overnight if it's indoors.
Image Notes
1. clamp
2. clamp
3. clamp
4. clamp
5. clamp
6. clamp
7. pile of scraps
8. pile of good pieces for later
9. 50lbs of weight on top of plywood
Image Notes
1. while it's clamped you can check the thickness
step 8: Cut!
I used a circular saw and a T-square to cut three even sides. I was pretty surprised with the firecracker-like sounds the cardboard made when i cut it.
Then I used a table saw to cut everything into 1.5" strips. I would highly recommend a partner to help you cut up the block. It's heavy and unwieldy.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. these six layers will be doubled up to make 12 layer sticks.
Image Notes
1. 12 layers. 1.5"x1.5"x3.5'
step 9: Honeycomb Plywood
Once you have your lumber, you can either use these individual pieces, or you can glue them, edge-to-edge and create a very, very strong block of cardboard suitable as
a tabletop or seat. Because the corrugations are all vertical (as a tabletop) and not horizontal, it has much greater strength.
Image Notes
1. all glued end-on-end and ready to clamp
2. high spots came from un-even table-sawing. a partner help will eliminate
this!
Image Notes
1. during compression
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. final compression and wait...
Image Notes
1. after saturating with another 1/2 gallon of wheatpaste. This will take a WHILE to
dry but should be as hard as glass when it is. my total cost so far has only been
from the 1/2 bag of flour I've used up
2. the wet glue gives the cardboard nice rounded edges
step 10: Build!!!
Use your imagination! This is an entire new building material that you have to figure out how to use.
To further strengthen your projects, you can seal the whole thing in wheatpaste like i did in the previous step.
Ideas for using this stuff, suggest anything you want to add:
Scapile (my original inspiration for all of this)
A cardboard playhouse made by Piersg
a MASSIVE amount of completed woodwork projects (search with the "view more tags" link)
lots of lumber plan blueprints
Andy Lee coffee table
nice table design
cool sitting bench
another bench
and another
snap together table from instructables
Pano Chair
Please rate and comment...
But Note:
Can we stop talking about the environment guys? I wasen't really trying to make any point that this would help the environment anywhere in my instructable. If you have
easy access to cardboard, flour and power tools, then you might be interested in making this. Go ahead, try it and tell us what happened. If you don't like this idea, then
please suggest better alternatives. Please calm down the comments on your assumptions about how cardboard and wheatpaste effect the environment.
Image Notes
1. finished. You can see the holes filled in on top. I stained it with just danish
oil. It adsorbed nicely and dried very shinny. I did not seal it with anything.
Image Notes
1. after splitting down the middle and cutting the ends square. One will be the
bench top and the other will be cut in 1/2 as the legs. The outside is dry but the
middle is still soaked. They need a day or two in the sun to become rigid again.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. I cut some over-sized mortise and tenon joints with a jigsaw so the legs
could bend out, adding to the stability if I didn't glue it.
Image Notes
1. You can see it easily holds 50 lbs and I sat on it and it felt like a rock, but it's
still very wet inside, I could tell when cutting the tenons. Even so, I will put a
gallon of wheatpaste over everything tomorrow and let it dry for a week or so for
a lifetime of durability.
Image Notes
1. putty made with wheatpaste and cardboard sawdust. I used this and some
compressed cardboard wedges to glue the table together.
Image Notes
1. the putty worked really well.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Image Notes
1. saturating the holes with hot wheatpaste before I put the wedges in.
Image Notes
1. in the drying jig saturated with wheatpaste.
Related Instructables
Wheatpaste by
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Make Signs out
of Cardboard!
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Earthy Eric
Cardboard
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by wholman
Papier-mâché
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 144 comments
 jolujo says:  Jun 11, 2009. 7:22 PM  REPLY
This is a fun idea and could be usefull for temporary needs such as set designers for theater... no wait .... they already know this ...so....
Not to be cruel but, What a waste of perfectly EXPENSIVE GLUE, not to mention green house gasses and the BTU's of energy taken up to manufacture the
glue only to be used to fabricate a product that will fail and fall apart in a short time. Have you considered using your table saw to rip pieces of waste wood
from pallets (many are constructed of VERY dry hardwood) and put your glue to good use by laminating together strucural components that will actually last
for years. Pallets are not the only source... construction sites routinly discard vast amounts of douglas fir and other scraps that could be put to use with your
process.
Great Idea!
Wrong Application.
 DeanThompson says:  Jul 10, 2009. 9:12 AM  REPLY
trying to justify being "green" or "environmental" should never include pallets! they should not even be entering North America!
http://www1.american.edu/TED/beetle2.htm
Now you know.
 poperol says:  Jun 17, 2009. 6:35 PM  REPLY
dude, it's wheatpaste, you cannot get a more eco-friendly glue than thinly-diluted, half-cooked flour. well, maybe hoof glue, but that's animal cruelty
 jolujo says:  Jun 18, 2009. 2:10 AM  REPLY
would you really want wheat paste dried and mixed with cardboard any where near your home? Have you considered INSECTS? They love that
stuff.... good luck with your termite infestation...and the ants.... and the wasps.....and wood bees and on and on....... not to mention the other critters
that will show up as soon as the rain starts falling
 imrobot says:  Jun 14, 2009. 3:25 PM  REPLY
umm what? expensive glue? BTU? Pallets? douglas fir? umm... I think i do not understand your rant. please clarify
i
 smutjeuk says:  Jun 13, 2009. 1:53 AM  REPLY
I use pallets regular and have you ever thought about all the NAILS and other METAL bits that are in them?
I was lucky that I only destroyed my saw (needed a new one anyway, but that is besides the point) and only because I used the proper protection and did
not removed covers etc from my saw that I am still here to tell the tale.
In fact I use by now a small cheap handheld metal detector (from eBay via Hong Kong) to make sure that there are no more nasties in.
As mentioned before you CAN use different glue but if you offset the production of glue to the usefulness of the recycled cardboard you may find that the
cardboard recycling wins by miles.
Most of us want to do our bid for the environment and even if you cycle to save on petrol pollution etc you still need rubber tires that in their production
give out gasses as well.
It is as always that someone has to find a middle way and refreshing ideas like this are better then going out and buy wood etc to build bits and pieces.
It is great to see your concern but coming up with alternatives would have been more useful.
Peace, we all want the same.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
 theRIAA says:  Jun 12, 2009. 12:54 AM  REPLY
It's something different. I have more access to cardboard and flour than free trashed pallets. What about the BTUs it takes to recycle cardboard?
I didn't waste anything in my opinion.
 smutjeuk says:  Jun 14, 2009. 2:47 AM  REPLY
Just a tip here for you as I was in need of some cheap wood and a friend past this one on.
Go to a local delivery service (UPS DHL etc, you got the idea?) they trash nearly all pallets unless they are blue in colour (there is a deposit on blue
pallets!) and plastic pallets. All other pallets are 'scrap' pallets.
Look out for pallets from Asia/Singapore as they even use exotic wood to make their pallets and are great for furniture, even for outside.
The only pain are the nails that they are use as they sometimes impossible to get out.
I just then cut out the middle planks (shorter but still useful). I use the rest or in the winter in an Woodburner and collect the nails after.
Just an idea for you how to get hold of pallets.
Also a lot of building sides burn even whole sheets of ply or other timber and are in my past experience only to happy for you to come up and help
yourself as long as you speak to the side manager first.
They see the positive side of recycling and I even got by now a couple of managers that phone me up when they got stuff, one even delivered for
free.
I always leave either a tip or a 'six pack' for the workers and it works wonders in some cases. Even got tools for free just for a 'six pack'.
I find that if you be nice and look after them the definitely look after your needs.
Just a tip and keep up the good work.
 DeanThompson says:  Jul 10, 2009. 9:13 AM  REPLY
Ill post this link here to.
http://www1.american.edu/TED/beetle2.htm
 edfel01 says:  Jun 13, 2009. 6:44 AM  REPLY
I agree, especially if u used wheat paste instead of glue...
 Ideal_Ideas91 says:  Jun 23, 2009. 11:19 PM  REPLY
Now Homeless People Can Build Homes!
I Mean Common! They Probably Pass Up A Ton Of Cardboard!
The only problem I see homeless people having is getting or making glue, cutting the lumber, and getting the cardboard to be waterproof
 Articas says:  Jun 22, 2009. 2:01 AM  REPLY
dude this so damn useful but may i ask where did you get the idea from
many cyberpunk and steampunk instructables are mad the same way
 theRIAA says:  Jun 22, 2009. 9:40 AM  REPLY
Frank Gehry and Scrapile
 Speedmite says:  Jun 20, 2009. 10:07 AM  REPLY
I could see tables and such made from this. Seating, probably not the most comfortable. Good job.
 quark43 says:  Jun 11, 2009. 7:54 PM  REPLY
if you painted it with Kilz or regular paint would that waterproof it. Im thinking of building a shed with this. thanks for the ideas
 smutjeuk says:  Jun 13, 2009. 1:38 AM  REPLY
Just use marine ply (thin sheets will do) for the ouside and you got yourself a shed that IS waterproof. I raised my 'cardboard shed' with treated 4x4
garden poles (The shed walls are 4" thick as well and are sitting fine on it) on the ground to protect against standing water but just used thin sheets of
marine ply (got offcuts from a local boat builder and had them overlapping, Just used 8x4's for the roof together with 'roofing tar sheets'.
Total Waterproof and better insulated then my house in the winter.
You just have to be careful with open fames or high heat as you are having a building made from flammable material.
Maybe someone could come up with some cheap, home-made flame-proof material that could be painted on?
Also I used water resistant wallpaper paste, it works really well and I have got no problems with rot or damp/moisture (and my shed is coming in to its 4th
year by now.
If you can not get marine ply you could use one layer of Fiber glass, it would do the trick as well but would be more expensive and would not look that
well.
All in all I paid no more than £100 for everything bit for that I got a 16x20 shed/workshop That looks the job and is better from what you can get in any
Garden Centre, let alone the savings compared to a garden shed/house you would pay in any of them or DIY stores.
Hope that helps.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
 xenor says:  Jun 17, 2009. 9:26 PM  REPLY
I'm thinking that the only way to safely fireproof this stuff would be to mix some sort of fire retardant in with the glue. That way it's all the way through
the material, rather than just a coating. Does anyone know what they treat cellulose fiber insulation with to make it fire resistant?
 Speedmite says:  Jun 20, 2009. 9:58 AM  REPLY
Good idea.
 quark43 says:  Jun 16, 2009. 4:49 PM  REPLY
It does help i like your ideas though im not sure i can get marine plywood but im going to look. My shed wont be that big only about 8x8.
 theRIAA says:  Jun 12, 2009. 12:58 AM  REPLY
nope, not waterproof. I would only keep this inside.
 Silence says:  Jun 13, 2009. 10:16 AM  REPLY
Not being waterproof can be fixed... you could glue a flat sheet to al the exposed corrugation and then paint the whole thing with a waterproof
coating.
paint or varnish.
would add extra strength too.
 NotAPot2PN says:  Jun 17, 2009. 9:51 AM  REPLY
Very cool - enjoyed it. Have done a bit of this myself, now can't wait to try again. If anyone is interested in history (of this material) or design, look up the
architect Frank Gehry online - he made a line of cardboard furniture years ago called "E-Z Edges" (my spelling may be off but you get the idea.)
Thanks for an inspiring Instructable.
 knexsuperbulderfreak says:  Jun 17, 2009. 2:33 AM  REPLY
ausome i have to try this also 5*
 kuritsubaji says:  Jun 16, 2009. 2:45 PM  REPLY
pindalanderz: you need to get some correct information because the numbers you are throwing around are non-sensical and have no basis in reality.
Human-caused global climate change is an undisputed fact supported by mountains of scientific evidence. Anyone that still argues the validity of climate
change needs to read something besides USA Today.
Answer this: If it's 'colder than ever' in Antarctica, why have huge regions of ice a large as Massechusets suddenly melted after existing for millions of years?
Because the earth is getting WARMER!
 theRIAA says:  Jun 16, 2009. 3:31 PM  REPLY
OKay... really. Everyone that wants to talk argue the environment please go to a Global Warming Forum.
 kleinjahr says:  Jun 16, 2009. 9:53 AM  REPLY
Nicely done. Another way is to use templates to cut out the shapes from individual sheets. Then glue them together. This allows for lighter furniture with the
same strength as it is more like one piece.
One piece of advice, fill/seal all open corrugations, especially for outdoors.
 skywriter says:  Jun 15, 2009. 12:53 PM  REPLY
I am surprised at the rants and neg-sayers on this stupendous instructable. You will need to coat in a very serious manner to use OUTDOORS, to prevent
moisture issues, but otherwise this is a wonderful asset out-of-the-box.
Conflicts about papier-mache mix vs wheatpaste is like, personalize your 'recipe.' As a sculpture artist and engineer, I have added borax to my wheat paste
to reduce smelly while I construct, but this construction uses all the paste --e.g. glue-- at one go, so no maintenance of wetness to develop smells or attract
critters. Papier mache is mostly wheatpaste.
Commercial manufacturers are building glamorous furniture out of recycled magazine pages using 'resins' which may include polymers --but some are even
using 'milk glue' --can you say Borden's?
Products made by this instructable can easily last as long as any wood product depending upon moisture invasion. (Cypress survives even the moisture, but
won't hold paint; I'm sure there are other very expensive woods that handle outdoors and moisture well.) Don't be fooled that paper-based products are
anything other than organics processed and repurposed. The big thing in building from cardboard is the LABOR. But if its for your own purposes, that's quite
valuable. Also, if you sell furniture that people will sit or stand on, you've gotta sweat the liability. For distribution, I would stick to indoor tables, shelving,
display cases, and art objects. You never know what a user will do with their stuff.
My local recycling center has trouble selling used cardboard, so much of it winds up in the landfill anyway. I will be starting a mini-line of manufacturing using
folks laid off from the aerospace industry to build designs from cardboard. As more layoffs occur, there will be less resource available and less local market,
but for the next few months it will work. Then when industry picks up, these 'workers' will volunteer to train an unskilled labor force to produce the goods,
while the source-materials increase, and the market will get stronger.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
Thanks so much to the brilliant artisan who put this instructable together --made my day!
 theRIAA says:  Jun 15, 2009. 7:25 PM  REPLY
thanks!
 minhocaloka says:  Jun 15, 2009. 8:05 AM  REPLY
uuuuhhhh, nice man!=P
I'm gona make one for me too!=D
 imrobot says:  Jun 14, 2009. 3:17 PM  REPLY
so how strong is this stuff?
 theRIAA says:  Jun 14, 2009. 4:51 PM  REPLY
very strong when dry (about 3-4 days). A 5' plank of this could support about 3 people I guess.
 imrobot says:  Jun 14, 2009. 6:43 PM  REPLY
so a 3 foot bench is no problem while a 10 footer is gonna break. ok .. does it relate to any kind of wood in strength?
 zonemad96 says:  Jun 14, 2009. 11:24 PM  REPLY
couldnt you just build some support down it?
 theRIAA says:  Jun 14, 2009. 9:31 PM  REPLY
why do you think I have all this technical data? It depends a lot on how well you built it.
 imrobot says:  Jun 15, 2009. 3:31 AM  REPLY
sorry you seem like the woodworking type so i thought you might relate it a kind of wood but i didn't mean to tick you off... sorry.
 theRIAA says:  Jun 15, 2009. 5:40 PM  REPLY
/: I usually work with 2x4s and plywood, dug fir and cedar. This is all I know about. I would say its weaker than even balsa wood, but
consider how much weight a 1.5" plank of balsa could hold.
 mattthomas992003 says:  Jun 14, 2009. 8:23 PM  REPLY
im lost on this part, at first i thought you layer all the boxes on top of each other, but you lay them all next to each other and glue um?
 theRIAA says:  Jun 14, 2009. 9:42 PM  REPLY
you are looking at one 4 foot by 8 foot layer. Another layer similar looking to this one is put on top of this. This uses a LOT of boxes. Each layer is unique
so that cracks are not continued for more than 1 layer.
 theRIAA says:  Jun 14, 2009. 9:43 PM  REPLY
notice that the different pictures in step 6 contain different patterns of boxes; these are different layers.
 99Samus says:  Jun 11, 2009. 9:23 PM  REPLY
Can you get splinters from this? I'm scared to do this right now because of my phobia of splinters
 theRIAA says:  Jun 12, 2009. 12:57 AM  REPLY
no, but the glue makes the cardboard hard, and could be sharp.. no splinters though.
 pyro PJ says:  Jun 13, 2009. 11:34 PM  REPLY
This is fricken AWESOME and so simple! I LOVE IT!!! I'm totally gonna make some shelves...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Lumber/
 denanderen says:  Jun 13, 2009. 12:13 AM  REPLY
why can't you just use the "standard" paper mache glue(wallpaper paste)?
allright, it's a bit more expensive than wheatpaste but it's easier to produce, since it can be done cold.
Nevertheless, very nice instructable and i will use at the least similar techniques in some projects of mine.
 theRIAA says:  Jun 13, 2009. 9:16 PM  REPLY
you can, go for it
 Silence says:  Jun 13, 2009. 10:20 AM  REPLY
Flour and water... add a little salt to keep bacteria from growing.
google 'paper mache' to find a recipe with the right proportions.
In most cardboard boxes thats all thats used to glue them together, think i saw that on 'how its made'
 edfel01 says:  Jun 13, 2009. 6:44 AM  REPLY
I really like this idea!!!! +5
 sedona007 says:  Jun 12, 2009. 11:15 AM  REPLY
Question, you said in step 9, " Because the corrugations are vertical, (as a tabletop) and not horizontal, it has much greater strength." Would duplicating the
plywood technique as you mentioned in step 3 still apply now or not? I'm confused...(nothing new lol)
 theRIAA says:  Jun 12, 2009. 4:11 PM  REPLY
it would but I never thought of that. That would be incredibly labor intensive, and probably wouldn't payoff as much as just laminating the whole thing on
bonding paper.
 kea says:  Jun 11, 2009. 11:15 AM  REPLY
At Oshkosh in the 80s there was a cardboard plane that really flew this was brilliant this would be ideal for canoes dinghies etc.
The formula mix Epoxy or polystyene ready to use then add liquid Stryene at 50% of total Epoxy mix then spray on each side of card board sheets. I hung
them from the cloths line. When dry this"product is completely waterproof & easy to work. It sand like wood,no fuzzy edges as if you sand ordinary
cardboard.
It can be laminated with canvas between layers for cheap product.
I built several pieces of furnature using this technique but could not raise capital to go commercial. Go for it
 sedona007 says:  Jun 12, 2009. 11:33 AM  REPLY
Can you purchase the polystyrene and liquid Styrene at Lowes or another home improvement store?
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