# 15mm vs 18 mm MFC or MDF



## SteveB43 (20 Feb 2020)

Hi All, 
A question I hope someone can help with, what’s the difference between 15 mm v 18mm Melamine MDF or Chipboard for furniture projects? 
Yes I know the difference is 3 mm but why do some places stock one or the other thickness?
Is it down to density of the MDF or chipboard core, price, or quality, ie a good 15mm will be better than a cheap 18 mm board?
Surely thicker is better in strength terms for attaching drawers, shelves etc?
Any help much appreciated  
Thanks


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## peter-harrison (22 Feb 2020)

15mm can be a bit thin for some applications. I try to use 15mm for the sides of cabinets, and 18mm for tops bottoms and shelves. This seems to work best with biscuiting or domino-ing cabinets together. The 15mm sides make an appreciable difference to the weight of a tall wardrobe, which shows when you have to hump it up two flights of stairs!
The downside is that for a small project you may be using 2 half- boards instead of one full board. In that case I would probably stick with the 18mm.


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