Cool Things Under The Microscope: Particle Board • Travis Hale (Photography and Science)

Every now and again I do a segment called Cool Things Under the Microscope; this time I have focused on Particle Board which is an engineered wood product that consists of wood chips, sawmill shavings, and potentially even sawdust which is bonded together using a synthetic resin or another binder. The product is used commonly just not typically outdoors due to it's ability to expand being susceptible to moisture related damage. It has many names, but most would be familiar with the terms MDF, or Chipboard.

The images below were taken with a Nikon D5300 Digital Camera, and a Radical RXL-4T Microscope. Because the depth of field is so shallow through the microscope, I had to take about 5 separate images where the focus was varied, and merge all the images together in Photoshop to create one ‘in-focus' image which is the first image. For interest I have included all of the photos so you can see how the depth of field changes throughout the image. The camera settings were about 4 second exposure, an aperture of around f1 (fixed because of the microscope), and ISO 100.

I find the image fascinating, how all of the fibers are inter-tangled and bonded together. Thinking about Chips (as in the board) did make me want potato chips though!

Enjoy, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me on social media etc.

Every now and again I will have a go at imaging some fun stuff under the microscope. This time I have captured a focus stacked image of Particle board (a shaving of) under the microscope. Images captured by Nikon D5300 and Radical RXL-4T Microscope.