Wouldn't the choice be plywood or MDF for cabinets.
this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
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It's a personal preference for the look and feel of the end result. It looks rough, imperfect, and that is to our liking.
But is [OSB] really a poorer choice when compared to plywood?
Yes quite literally. Plywood outperforms OSB in almost every category except price.
OSB won’t hold screws as well and any elements intended to be load-bearing will flex more than plywood. It’s just not really well-suited for cabinetry or casework. It’s mainly intended for sheathing or acting as a subsurface under flooring or roofing material.
I can assure you that you will regret spending time and effort building something out of OSB and then having to live with it for the rest of your life.
Spend a bit more, do it well, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor for years to come.
We already have a few pieces made out of it. We enjoy the look and feel of the material. That uneven and flawed looking aspect is what attracts us.
With a good finish OSB can look nice. Enough epoxy to make the surface smooth for example will let the grain show through while not having splinters. Look at the interesting patterns you can put on epoxy countertops. Consider putting fiberglass in the epoxy as well for something stronger than plywood.
Personally I lean to more solid wood. But then I'd build my cabinets with just hand tools if I had time.
The beauty of an OSB bookshelf is that you definitely won't have to live with it for the rest of your life.
OSB is for sheathing and subfloor, yo.
For bookcases in particular, the weakness of OSB is going to be a problem when loaded. Its rough surface could also play havoc with the bottoms of books. OSB is not really intended to be a project for cabinetry or furniture, so its qualities are not optimized for those uses. I suspect your carpenter there was overstating things, but I won't fault a professional for not wanting to use it.
Size-wise, I might recommend the next step up for either material, 18mm I think, for both sides and shelves. For the back, go the other way. 9mm is overkill for the back, and even 6mm is probably more than strictly necessary. 3mm will be more than fine, as the back is there for aesthetics, to keep the books in, and for avoiding racking (big concern on a bookcase). It will rely on the strength of the carcase and the nails/screws/glue holding it, and doesn't need as much intrinsic strength.
I think everyone has answered your question correctly so far. You can't beat plywood for strength, but it is expensive. There are middle ground alternatives.
There is Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) which is between the two on strength but takes paint brilliantly. Many cabinet makers use this exclusively for mid range quality furniture.
Even cheaper is chipboard which is about as bad, or worse than OSB but you can get it laminated. Most very cheap furniture from places like IKEA use it and it can do a reasonable job.
All of these materials have their quirks, mainly on how you finish end grain (even plywood). Both MDF and chipboard suck at taking a screw so you have to get special screws and use them carefully. Make sure you do some research, there's plenty of YouTube videos on using the products.
I'm a big fan of plywood for my projects, the top veneer looks great and it can be handled without gloves. The last time I used OSB I had many splinters from just moving it around.
A quick search says plywood takes nails and screws better.
Appereance is subjective but strenght is not. OSB is significantly weaker than regular plywood. Personally I consider it a construction material meant for walls, roofs and floors but I'd never use it for furniture making.
Just talk to the carpenter again, and ask him for advice. But here's my advice.
Both will work just fine, but I personally like plywood. Just go a little thicker if you're worried.
Imo, just go with the 13mm all around.
I personally went with a sheet of 3/4 inch thick sheet of pine plywood, which I cut to 12 inch deep, and the premade wood brackets. I don't know what the metric equivalents would be, but I'm sure you can figure it out.