WOOD or MDF ?

[drcrippen324]

[compirate]

I was gonna say, if that's you, we're gonna have to clean this place up a little!

Introducing youngsters to the world of Japanese Gambling!

"It's all fun till someone looses their home....

and job

and money

and Wife" (well, for some that might be worth it!).

[birdbrain]

thats my youngest, Erika. just turned 8 thanksgiving weekend

[compirate]

thats my youngest, Erika. just turned 8 thanksgiving weekend

Happy Belated Birthday Erika!!!!!


And little Erika Lu Birdbrainwho came out and saw an old fat guy in a Mayflower t-shirt stuffing their pachi's out the window. "What are you doing with our pachi's Maysanta?" "Why there's a light on this pachi that won't light on one side so I'm taking it back to my shop up north in Maryland to fix it!" So he got her a glass of water and with a pat on her head he sent her off to bed! I'm a mean one, Mr Maysanta!

[Lddrizzt]

"It's all fun till someone looses their home....

and job

and money

and Wife" (well, for some that might be worth it!).

It was for me.

[dattia]

thats my youngest, Erika. just turned 8 thanksgiving weekend

She is beautiful Happy Birthday Erika!!!

[btoddkelley]

Are they for sale yet? i would like to have one.

Thanks
Todd

[slothappy144]

Cute girl, how about showing us a cabinet? Pictures pictures we wants pictures!
BTW hard wood has gotten crazy expensive, I just called Lowes they want around $14 for a 1/2" x 6" x 4' oak, thats only 1/4 the board feet of a 1x6x8' piece ouch.
sorry, umm how about those pictures?

pictures oh pictures is what gets people to spend their hard earned bucks or yen or pounds or ureos (like oreos with a U )

getting close!! finished the jigs today so all parts are cut uniformly. just waiting on the pocket drill to come so i can start assembly.also built an extra large router table to handle the assembled machine.

pocket drill = Kreg = fast &strong joinery. knock down for shipping,
are you going to route the cabinet after it is assembled? if thats what your doing just use a hand held with a larger base, just a suggestion not my back doing this its yours.

[birdbrain]

will be assembling some tonite. pics tomorrow. i want to have 4-5 ready to ship before i advertise.i hate dealers who don't have the product already boxed.

[slothappy144]

Gotta respect that, show a test or prototype one then. raw is cool to!

[lindowman146]

MDF is a great material for making cabinets out of. Its not good for a stain finish as mentioned but you wouldnt want to stain it as its got no grain. It is easy to fill holes and sand like they aren`t there and you can also use a sander to take any edges sharp edges off with some pretty good results. Strength has been mentioned in this debate but it shouldn`t be an issue for this application as whats gona haoppen to it ? no-ones gona sit on it. Real natural wood always looks great with a stain but you have to be a tidier builder as screw holes can be harder to mask when stained and stick out like a sore thumb. Cost wise MDF is far cheaper as its a munufctured board its cheap, in the UK natural wood is very expensive. I always use MDF when building cabinets that will have a bright gloss finish as if its being painted a colour it doesn`t matter what the base material is, your never gona see it. Ive tried making some for sale in the UK but people dont want to spend the money on them. One thing to note is MDF when being cut makes a remendous amount of fine dust that can really affect your lungs so always were a dust mask. Good luck ith your cabinets. Have a look at my menbers toys page for some pics of mine.

[slothappy144]

I have dust collection system and shop air cleaner, and I wear a dust mask. I still can end up with a sore throat feeling after machining this stuff. I only wear the mask when using machines that are not connected to the central dust system, like the trim router, and RO sanders. The adhesive is a form of urea formaldehyde. The fine dust is also a mess everywhere in the shop. On a positive note: I really like how the joints disappear when sanded. glue up is great as well I don't have to be careful about glue squeeze out, I just wipe it down with a wet towel, the glue acts like a sealer. on hardwood this would prevent stain from soaking in. So it is forgiving, cheaper, and faster to assemble, looks great painted. The veneers in plywood vary direction so painting and looking smooth is way more difficult, the end grains absorb so much more paint it it hard to get a uniform coverage without sealing and re-sanding a few times.

[arbycoffee]

I always putty the ends before painting

and use a lite base coat of a very pale gray

[slothappy144]

I always putty the ends before painting

and use a lite base coat of a very pale gray

do you putty just the voids or cover the whole end with a thin layer?

[arbycoffee]

do you putty just the voids or cover the whole end with a thin layer?

I cover the whole end and the type I use is the one with alochl in it (not the watewr based one). some times need to do it twice to get a good clean end

[slothappy144]

I usually will band (attach a solid wood piece) to anything that will need to look that nice, my garage shelves I just painted, a gameroom stand would get a banding strip and a routered edge. it can also be stained if need be. Iron on banding is nice for a flat square edge, it comes in real wood veneer and melamine. the wood piece will also not explode if it takes a hard rap. the veneer is not so tough. attached is a maple laundry room cabinet with edge banded shelves. they look like solid wood. the 45 degree shelves are iron on banding but the large inside shelves are 1/2" thick wood, 1" tall to add needed strength to the over sized shelves

[arbycoffee]

very nice work !!!

I will try it, you use staples or just glue ?

[slothappy144]

Thank you sir, I try.
This is a great tip for those wanting to add strength plus a finished look to a shelf or visual thickness to a tabletop or want to have a routed solid wood look. use a strip of wood taller than the thickness of the plywood, mount it flush at the top and let it hang down. sand flush then rout.
I use Titebond II glue. if it is getting paint a bit if glue and some small finish nails will get the job done quick. the nail holes fill easy.

[pandaweaver]

I'd say proper softwood is better, because although slightly more expensive, MDF gives of urea formaldehyde over time, which is a nasty chemical, and suspected carnicogen. So, it depends on how much you decide to play on your machine. However, cutting tools blunt really quickly with it due to the high amount of glue.

PAnda