Angle Board Specification Guide

Why “5 ply” is not a specification

Ply on its own tells you how many layers of paper were laminated and nothing about how heavy those layers were, how thick the finished board is, or how long the legs are. Two boards described as 5 ply can differ by a factor of two in the load they will carry. Nearly every enquiry we receive describes a board with one number; nearly every damage problem we are asked to look at comes from a board specified with one number.

There are four numbers. Each one answers a different question, and they are decided in a particular order.

1. Leg size — a geometry question

The leg is the flat face of the L that lies against the load. It has to be long enough that the strap lands on board with margin on both sides, and long enough that the board does not tip off the corner when the load shifts.

That makes it a function of the pallet footprint and the strap position, not of the weight. A common error is going up a leg size because the load got heavier: the leg was never the thing carrying the weight. If your board is crushing, the answer is thickness. If your board is sliding off the corner or the strap is landing beside it, the answer is leg size.

2. Thickness — a compression question

Thickness is what resists crushing at the strap contact point and what lets the corner act as a vertical column. It is driven by two things together: the weight of the load itself, and how many of those loads are stacked on top of each other in transit.

The second one dominates. A 600 kg pallet on its own and the same 600 kg pallet at the bottom of a triple stack are completely different problems for the corner, and the container loading plan changes more often than the product does. When we ask “is it stacked in transit?”, this is why — and “sometimes” means specify for the stacked case.

3. Ply and GSM — stiffness against density

Ply is how many layers. GSM is how heavy each layer is. They are related to thickness but they are not the same thing, and they buy you different properties.

• More ply, same GSM — stiffer along its length. Resists bending. Useful on long cut lengths and tall stacks where the board would otherwise bow outward under the strap.
• Higher GSM, same ply — denser. Resists crushing at a point. Useful where strap tension is high and concentrated, or where a forklift is going to make contact.

A specification that gives both — say 6 ply in 350 GSM — describes a board. One that gives only ply describes a family of boards.

4. Cut length — where the straps are

Full stack height means every strap, at every level, lands on board. It is the specification we quote unless told otherwise, because it is the one that cannot fail in a way you will not notice.

Short pieces at the top and bottom strap positions cost less and are a reasonable choice where the middle straps carry little. The diagnostic is simple: if your damage reports show crushing at one consistent height on the stack, that height is where the board was not.

Writing it down

A complete specification line looks like this:

Paper angle board, L profile
Leg        50 x 50 mm
Thickness  4 mm
Ply        6 ply
Paper      350 GSM kraft
Length     1400 mm
Quantity   4 pcs per pallet

That is comparable between suppliers, auditable by a QA department, and unambiguous at goods-in. It is also exactly what our quotes carry, which is deliberate: a price without a specification cannot be compared against anything.

Over-specifying costs money too

It is tempting to solve an uncertain problem by going up a grade. Sometimes that is right. Often the failure was never a strength failure — it was a board that was too short, or a leg that let the strap land beside it, or a board that was not placed at all on the night shift. A heavier board fixes none of those and costs more on every pallet for as long as it is specified.

Which is why we ask what fails today before we ask what grade you want. If you have photographs of a damaged pallet, they are worth more than any answer to a form.