Has anyone ever used MDF for a cabinet?

[nickbuol]

I really like the smoothness of MDF, but the only thing I've ever used MDF for was the top of the control panel for my MAME arcade cabinet. I was thinking about building a pachinko cabinet out of something that could have a really smooth finish to it without a lot of filling and sanding to get rid of wood grain.

I'm just not sure about the properties of MDF if it would be strong enough. I could make any hidden surfaces out of wood (pine or otherwise)...

Thoughts on this, or other way to get an ultra smooth finish? My ultimate goal is to have a really high gloss finish to match the gloss plastic of the pachinko frame.

[dattia]

Birdbrain made some cabinets from MDF, not sure what his experience was.
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It was discussed in this thread.

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/show...t=cabinets+MDF

[nickbuol]

Thank you. I'll check it out. I searched for MDF but it returned zero results... Odd.

[dattia]

I believe a 3 character string is not long enough for a search. I used cabinets MDF.

[luckydog]

I've heard working with it is much harder cutting and drilling.

Some members have used laminate over wood for a smooth finish.

[nickbuol]

Yeah, I guess I could laminate it. It would take much to do it, and I've done it before. Of course, laminate has "edges" that aren't the same color. Look at your counter tops in your kitchen (unless they are stone or marble). The edge where the top meets a side is always the "Kraft paper" backing and not the colored outside. Maybe T-Molding or something... I don't know... I've done that before too with my arcade, so none of that would be new to me to do and I've already got the tools to do it.

[MrGneiss]

I believe sir sid made his out of MDF!!

almost to heavy to move!!


no, they looked nice...if he ever stops being lazy, he may stop by and tell us all about them!!

[Sid]

Yes I have made my bleeping heavy brick pachihouse out of 3/4 inch MDF.. in hindsight i would use something thinner maybe 1/2 inch

MDF is easy to work with..

the major concerns are
1) lots of dust when cutting
2) you must pre drill holes for screws, if you dont pre drill the holes once you put the screw in it will split.

also since MDF has a tendency to sag over time make sure that your design has the weight spread evenly on pieces that have weight. (proper support etc)


when cutting the MDF the edges tend to chip if you arent careful have dull blades etc

as for Painting is concerned the edges can absorb a lot of paint its best to use a primer before painting.


other then that its pretty much like wood..

if you have any other specific questions just let me know

Sid

Heres a link to the simple straight cut cabinet i made

http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19170

[nickbuol]

Yeah, I've worked with MDF before. People had pre-warned me about the dust, but it is still a surprise when you actually work with it. When I did use it, I wasn't making anything that required screws, so it is good to know how critical pre-drilling is. I like predrilling anyway, but that is helpful. I am thinking that if I did use MDF, I would use real wood on any non-exposed surfaces and the main shelf. I would have to do some filling of any "ends" of the real wood boards that do end up exposed (such as the main shelf) but that would be a lot less than the entire cabinet to get it all smooth.

I still may end up just using a fine particle board and then laminate it. It is so easy, and then it is super solid, plus no screw holes, etc...

[Meathead]

You might look into hardwoods. I have built all of my cabinets out of pine, but I wasn't going for a smooth look. I just primed and then brush-painted them.

However, I built some nice cabinets for my living room, and I believe the wood that I used was poplar. It was an ugly looking wood, definitely not stain-grade. It had hues of green and brown, but it was primarily a blonde-colored wood. But the grain was tight, it was very easy to work with, sanded nicely, and after three years with heavy books and other objects on the shelves, it shows no signs of bending at all. Probably the best wood I've ever worked with for any of my projects

[pachinut]

I built one out of that white melamine laminated shelving you get at home depot once. I don't think that the substrate is quite as hard as MDF.It was pretty easy to cut. The white laminate with the dark edges looked pretty good with my vintage machine.

I'm currently working on a wall unit. Mostly pine, but the shelf is oak. It holds four machines and has a common ball return.

[nickbuol]

What, no pictures?

Please share...

[Meathead]

I'm almost certain the wood I used was poplar. I bought it at Home Depot. The stuff came in widths up to 14" and 12' long. I loved a couple things about it. When I cut it, there was very little knock-out (that fray caused by the spinning blade exiting the wood) and it sanded very nicely. There were no hard/soft spots that made sanding a problem, like pine or fir. I was able to sand it to a very smooth finish, and I painted it without priming. The wood was dense, with no sap to bleed through the paint later. As you can see, after three years the shelves have not bent. They are 3/4" thick and supported on three sides. The width is a little over two feet.

My son's pine pachinko cabinet, and the poplar shelving...

[hanabi]

For our Star Wars Wall Mounted Cabinet we actually used Pine Shelving with a rounded edge

Although more expensive to construct it this way, it gave a nice smooth finish

[portercbl]

Nickbuol,
MDF would be VERY heavy. Use a 3/4 inch plywood called SandPly that you can purchase from Home Depot. It is very smooth after sanding and isn't as heavy as MDF would be.
It worked GREAT for my pachinko cabinets! It would paint very nicely or you could laminate to it if you like. I left mine natural color.
Jerry