So, now that @squid has revealed this, it’s great for mock-up/prototypes.
Quicker (less power/more speed) than acrylic, easier to glue, a lot cheaper… (and also a lot messier… the residue/glue/char is noticeable).
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Sorry to be “that guy” here: I built an entire printer out of mostly 3mm MDF. What you have there looks like MDF. “Chip Board” will have more raw wood in it. MDF is made from essentially sawdust. At least that’s how I understand it. Seems like anything below 3mm actually gets measure in “PT” here and then you’re looking for 50PT to be 1.5mm or 30PT for ~1mm. I spent an hour or so last night going through Amazon looking for thinner materials than 3mm. 
Also keep it up with the bot! 
Another Arduino-er is always a plus.
chipboard vs greyboard; gypsum vs drywall, etc. LDF, MDF, OSB, particle board, pressboard, …
I know what chipboard is in lumber. It’s also a “thing” in cardboard. 
The “bot” is actually a “freak the cats out” generator. Motion sensor + MP3 player. I want to try to do something with random sounds as well as vector; approach, depart, left-to-right, right-to-left, etc.
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Nice! I tried to do some audio and ended up using another controller for it. Somehow after playing a sound the Neopixels would screw up and not work right. 
“Somehow” is really just that the sound didn’t leave the timers like they started but I gave up first.
The only reason I specify is because the lower here isn’t suitable for us. my understanding is that “chip board” and “particle board” are both mostly unusable. Just wanted to avoid someone disappointed they ordered chip board expecting MDF. I’m still concerned about what I ordered that’s claiming to be hard board but who knows what will actually show up or whether I can cut it.
Nice! I tried to do some audio and ended up using another controller for it. Somehow after playing a sound the Neopixels would screw up and not work right
The MP3 board I’m using is actually serial controlled, so there’s no CPU or timer impact on the ESP8266. You way want to look at STM32, like the blue/black pill. I believe there are more timers available. IIRC different Arduino compatible boards share timers/interrupts among several pins, so you have to pick and chose which pins to use to avoid interference.
This “chipboard” is essentially pressed cardboard. It’s more like very thick (1.25mm)/dense paper, not wood. It’s flexible, not brittle like I’d expect MDF to be.
This is the kind of material I’m looking for! Do you have a link by chance? I find 3mm is too thick for the mandala effects when scaled to K40 sizes. I think thinner material will minimize that.
Awesome, thanks. Sadly doesn’t say I already ordered it. :’(
My earlier math was way off. Trying to compare apples-to-things-that-look-like apples:
12x12" 1/16" (1.58mm) acrylic: $5 in quantity
12x12" 1.25mm chipboard: $0.34 in quantity.
Pretty close to 1/15 the cost to mock stuff up or test cuts.
So you’re telling me I’m saving MORE money? Are you a small talking gecko by chance?
I try to keep cardstock on hand as well to use to test-cut for fitment. So if I’m going to make a panel I just run it fast on cardstock so I can drop the buttons and lights into it and make sure it’s right before I use the real material. Learned this one the hard way wasting all the acrylic I had trying to re-make the front panel of my K40.
Yeah… I’ve got a bunch of 100wt cardstock, but it’s not nearly as thick as the chipboard.
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If you have a well stocked art supply store in your city, check there, too. One near me has had stacks of these on the floor. Sheets that were probably around 32" x 40" were from the upper $2 range to upper $4 range depending on thickness. Great stuff to have around for prototyping large projects.
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It’s comforting to know this is how other people do their work as well.
I’m still hoping someone comes in like “Oh that’s dumb, if you use THIS MATERIAL from HERE it’s like 1/10th the cost”.
A little bit off subject, but what exactly is tempered hardboard? I love using it, super cheap, cuts easy and is very rigid for how thin it is (.125 inch). I know what tempering does to metal, but have no idea how it relates to wood.
but what exactly is tempered hardboard
From our friends at Google:
Tempered hardboard is hardboard that has been coated with a thin film of linseed oil and then baked; this gives it more water resistance, impact resistance, hardness, rigidity and tensile strength.
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I wonder if linseed oil is one of the reasons why hardboard smokes so much when you cut it? Cutting that stuff is a way to piss off a bunch of neighbors pretty fast.
You can buy 4x8 sheets of this board at Home Depot cheap. It’s in building materials. It’s about 1/8” thick.
The “temper” in tempered hardboard does make a difference. I had a ‘75 Toyota Sport truck that didn’t carry 4’x8’ sheet stuff very well at all. I was able to take a 4’x8’ sheet of the tempered hardboard and bend it in half, with opposite short edges touching, and tie it off with string. Fit in the bed of truck, no problem. Un-tempered stuff would snap in half.