SHEET MATERIAL

Sheet materials

Weight per sheet of MDF, plywood, particleboard, OSB, HDF and more, calculated from published densities for common thicknesses and sizes.

Panel weight depends on density, which varies by product and manufacturer. Where a source gives a range, the tables show the lightest and the heaviest sheet. Sheet sizes differ between markets, and each page names where its sizes come from.

Density and weight of an 18 mm sheet of 2,440 × 1,220 mm
Material	Density	18 mm sheet, 2,440 × 1,220 mm
Birch plywood	680 kg/m³	36.4 kg
Softwood plywood	460–520 kg/m³	24.6–27.9 kg
MDF (medium-density fibreboard)	700–900 kg/m³	37.5–48.2 kg
HDF and hardboard	900–1,000 kg/m³	48.2–53.6 kg
Particleboard (chipboard, MDP)	600–800 kg/m³	32.1–42.9 kg
OSB (oriented strand board)	500–800 kg/m³	26.8–42.9 kg
Melamine-faced board	600–900 kg/m³	32.1–48.2 kg

Birch plywood

Plywood made entirely of birch veneers. The Handbook of Finnish Plywood gives a mean design density of 680 kg/m³ at 65% relative humidity, and 620 kg/m³ for combi plywood, with two birch face veneers on each side and alternating conifer and birch veneers in the core.

See weights 02

Softwood plywood

Plywood with conifer veneers such as spruce or pine. The Handbook of Finnish Plywood gives mean densities of 520 kg/m³ with thin veneers and 460 kg/m³ with thick veneers; the Wood Handbook lists plywood at a specific gravity of 0.4–0.6.

See weights 03

MDF (medium-density fibreboard)

A dry-process fibreboard of refined wood fibres bonded with resin. The Wood Handbook lists MDF at a specific gravity of 0.7–0.9, so its weight depends strongly on the product.

See weights 04

HDF and hardboard

High-density fibreboard and hardboard are thin, dense fibre panels. The Wood Handbook lists hardboard at a specific gravity of 0.9–1.0, the densest panel in its comparison table. The weights below use that hardboard range, which does not define every HDF product.

See weights 05

Particleboard (chipboard, MDP)

Particleboard is usually made in three layers: fine particles on the faces for a smooth surface and coarser material in the core (Wood Handbook, chapter 11). Its specific gravity is 0.6–0.8.

See weights 06

OSB (oriented strand board)

OSB is made of thin wood strands bonded with waterproof resin, usually in three layers with the face strands aligned along the length of the panel (Wood Handbook, chapter 11). Its specific gravity is 0.5–0.8.

See weights 07

Melamine-faced board

Particleboard (MDP) or MDF with a low-pressure melamine surface on one or both faces. Its weight is essentially that of the substrate, so the table spans the particleboard and MDF ranges of the Wood Handbook (specific gravity 0.6–0.9).

See weights 08

Solid wood panel (edge-glued)

Boards glued edge to edge into a wide panel. Unlike MDF or plywood it has no density of its own: it weighs what its species weighs and moves across its width like solid wood.

See weights