What's the right way to sand/shave/reshape particleboard? [solved]
My second bedroom has low ceilings. I bought an IKEA closet, but somehow botched the measurements when I was seeing if it would fit. So, instead of having ~10cm of room for the top of the cabinet, I have 2-4mm on the high side. I got lucky that they fit at all. :)
However, the ceiling sags a tiny bit, such that one corner of one wall of the closet does not fit between the floor and the ceiling. I'd guess that it's about 2mm too tall. It seems like I should be able to shorten the wall by minimally sanding/shaving/sawing exactly where it strikes the ceiling.
The question is: This cabinet is made of particleboard. It seems like particleboard doesn't cut well, as it's already so soft. What is the correct and safest way to shorten this cabinet without causing structural or aesthetic damage?
If you don't have a lot of material to remove, you could use a belt or palm sander to gently sand it down. Be very careful not to press too hard so you don't damage the wood, if you take your time it should work just fine.
If you have to remove a bit more material you could use a circular saw, just make sure you get a saw blade with lots of teeth. For materials like this the more teeth the better, as it will give you a smoother cut and minimize chipping.
If you don't want to use electric tools, you could wrap sandpaper around a block of wood or a sponge and try to sand the top down so that it fits.
If this is to be a permanent installation, you could also try to remove part of the ceiling. If it is drywall it will probably possible to cut with a razer knife. If it's plaster, you are probably better off modifying the cabinet.
If the cabinet is raised up on legs at all, it might be easier to cut them down than to modify the top.
Here's how I cut laminated particle board:
- Put heavy masking tape over the general area that you're going to cut. This will help (at least a little bit) to keep the laminate from chipping on the edges.
- Mark the final cut line right on the masking tape.
- Get a fine-toothed blade for whatever saw you prefer. For a circular saw, 60 or more teeth should work pretty well. (I use a circular saw because I feel like I get straighter cuts, and because the teeth always enter the board in the same direction. A jigsaw might work in a pinch, but because the blade moves both up and down, it'd probably chip the laminate more. See the next step.)
- Make sure that the teeth of the sawblade will enter into the front of the piece, or whichever surface is more exposed/visible. The side where the teeth come out of the piece are far more likely to be "blown out" and chipped by the teeth of the blade.
- Make a practice cut on a scrap piece if you have one, so you can get the feel for how fast to cut the material.
- Try to cut slowly enough to keep a straight line and avoid chipping, but not so slowly as to let the blade burn the particle board.
I would try a hand held electric planer. Far easier to remove lots of material vs using a sander. The sander will work, but of course it will be super dusty and take much longer.
I'm not a huge fan of sanding on particle board, all that glue and resin dust in addition to the regular wood in can't be very healthy. If you go the sanding route - I'd strongly advise wearing a respirator.
Good luck!
Sometimes we need to get back to old fashioned methods. Try a rasp or surform. Both can remove material very efficiently, while still providing good control. Finish off with sandpaper if you want a better finish.
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