Replies

1. 
   PaulReuter | Jul 19, 2003 01:09am | #1

   There is a plant in the Winnipeg area that makes the stuff, primarily from flax straw.  There has been a lot of good hype about it considering that flax straw has been a real bane to farmers & now they can actually make a little profit on it.  Not to mention all the environmental, ecological, & tree hugger stuff.

   Local furniture companies have contracted for large amounts, & some homebuilders have at least tried it.  Haven't tried it myself but a local building center had a lift on display & you could smell it when you walked in.  Quite a bit of anecdotal stories about sensitivity/alergy problems.  Apparently, one of the clerks in that building center had to quit because of alergies to it.  I've heard a number of other stories of similar situations where the board is either manufactured or processed.

   Maybe using trees isn't so bad after all.

   Paul

2. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Jul 19, 2003 01:19am | #2

   Where's the North Bay of California?   Is that maybe the north part of the San Francisco Bay area?  If so, you can buy single sheets of the stuff at Plywood and Lumber Sales (http://www.pals4wood.com/).   The new Oakland yard has the widest selection.  If you're interested in ecological stuff, they also have plywood made from bamboo.   The prices for all of this stuff tend to be in the region of premium hardwood-veneer plywood.

1. 
   add47 | Jul 19, 2003 01:39am | #4

   Thanks fo the link and the info.  I'm in Santa Rosa.  Oakland is a bit of a trek, but not out of the question. 

   Thanks again.

3. 
   Kevin | Jul 19, 2003 01:27am | #3

   I just did some faux finishing on several pieces of strawboard a couple weeks ago. A local client is wanting to put an emphasis on recycled materials so we went with strawboard instead of MDF. Other than the surface texture being slightly different (the strawboard is a bit more textured than the MDF)... I really don't see much of a difference between the two.

   Strawboard is basically just a wood-less version of MDF. To the best of my knowledge it isn't treated any differently than MDF is by the end-user. We use a fair amount of MDF where I work and we didn't do anything differently with the strawboard.

   I hope that's helpful. It's about all I can tell you about the stuff. LOL

   Regards,

   Kevin

4. 
   tablesaw635 | Jul 21, 2003 02:32am | #5

   Howdy-

   Personally I love the stuff.  I used it about 3 years ago to put a floor in my showroom... the place smelled like a hayloft until we varnished it, but having grown up on a farm I suppose I found it rather charming.  Suffice it to say that this is one of the only pleasing smells I remember from those days...

   Anyway, I've always got it from home centers at what's always seemed like a really cheap price-- $15 for a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" stuff.  As I like the visual texture (can't really call it "the grain", although come to think that may be somewhat accurate, given the origin of this stuff), I've just clear-coated it, but I'd be curious to see some colored aniline dyes and the like used with it.

   I haven't built any cabinets of furniture with it, but I figure that that is just a matter of time-- it has been on my back burner for a while, so I'm sure that one of thes days I'll be able to sell somebody on the idea of using it in a project.  I think that it would lend itself to being used in casework, etc. if it meets your aesthetic goals and the joinery is strong enough, etc.

   Anyway, that's my experience.  Enjoyable, no problems that come to mind.

   Regards,
   Chris Gleason

   Gleason Tableworks

   http://www.interestingfurniture.com

5. 
   rslatm | Jul 21, 2003 03:59pm | #6

   Never tried it yet but did get a sample of some soy board that looks like faux stone. Greenish with white flecks.