MDF or plywood?

[Student]

I am planning on making a couple of small wardrobes, approximately 6ft tall by 3 ft wide and 2 ft deep, based on some plans in a woodworking book that I bought a few years ago. In the book, all the side panels and shelves are cut from 8ft by 4ft 18 mm veneered ply. This, of course, is quite expensive. My question is, can 18mm veneered MDF be used instead, at least for the side panels; all the edges will be lipped with solid wood as will the face frame.

It’s also a question of whether to use 6mm veneered ply for the door panels or 7mm veneered MDF, the stiles and rails being solid wood.

Any thoughts? I note that Mailee used MDF in one of his latest projects, some built in wardrobes.

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Warning: Hobby woodworking can damage your wealth

 

[MickCheese]

MDF and tulipwood. Once painted will look fine.

The door could just be a solid piece with 6mm MDF planted on to look like rails and stiles.

Mick

 

[Student]

Mick

Thanks for the advice. I forgot to mention that I plan to, possibly, stain and then varnish the wardrobes once finished; I'm hoping to use either oak or cherry veneer.

Martin

 

[Chrispy]

Veneered MDF will be fine, probably better in this case than veneered plywood.

 

[mailee]

I always use veneered MDF for my wardrobes as you have noticed. Reasoning behind it is that it is cheaper than veneered ply and more stable than solid wood in a centrally heated house. I also lip all the edges with solid wood and make the doors from solid with 6 or 9mm veneered MDF panels. To the untrained eye it looks like solid wood so my customers are happy with the finished piece. HTH. :wink:

 

[Harbo]

Mailee - how do you lip the boards?
Just glue them on or do you use some extra support like biscuits, T&G ??
Thanks

Rod

 

[Peter Sefton]

I have found veneered MDF better than veneered ply in the past, Clarkswood in Bristol carry a range
http://www.clarkswood.com/pricelist/Pri ... wnload.pdf

 

[Student]

Thanks to all for your input on this.

Alan - with regard to Rod's query, are biscuits needed for the lipping. For the shelves in my proposed wardrobes, the lipping will help to stop the MDF bending under load.

Peter - thanks for the "heads up" about Clarks Wood. Do you know whether they are OK for "hobby" quantities of the hardwood that I will need? I think I might find it difficult to convert what I need into cu. ft.

Thanks again.

 

[woodcrafter]

Good luck with the project, and well done for taking it on. My advice: if you choose (as mentioned) to use cherry veneered board then don't try to stain it, leave it be. Cherry is very prone to blotching and is nigh on impossible to stain evenly.
c.

 

[Student]

Woodcrafter

Thanks for your advice. My design consultant (of the last 40 plus years) hasn't yet decided on the final design or wood. Interestingly, in the American book detailing the plans for the cherry armoire that is one of the designs that I am thinking of building, there are two other projects, a bookcase and a display cabinet, also using cherry plywood and solid cherry. One author says that he used three coats of tung oil, another decided to use a dark red cherry gel stain to even out differences in the colour differences between lighter sapwood and darker heartwood before applying three coats of varnish, and the third said that he finished the units with an oil and urethane finish.

Assuming the solid wood is of an even colour, I'll probably go for the tung oil.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Thanks to all for your input on this.

Alan - with regard to Rod's query, are biscuits needed for the lipping. For the shelves in my proposed wardrobes, the lipping will help to stop the MDF bending under load.

Peter - thanks for the "heads up" about Clarks Wood. Do you know whether they are OK for "hobby" quantities of the hardwood that I will need? I think I might find it difficult to convert what I need into cu. ft.

Thanks again.

Sorry being slow getting back to you regards Clarkswood, not sure how small a quantity they can deal with, we have to or £300 plus to get free delivery but this should not apply to you.
Cheers Peter

 

[mailee]

Sorry for the late reply Student. I just glue the lipping on and trim it flush with the router. I have a good collection of edge clamps and use these for clamping the lipping in place in glue up. As for the blotchy finish with stain on porous woods I put a very light coat of sealer on before staining which seems to work well. Check out my pine blanket chest post as I think I didn't put enough (If any) on the inside of the lid.

 

[Student]

Sorry for the delay in responding but our internet connection has been "flaky" during the last week. Anyhow, many thanks for everyone's input. On behalf of the hobbyists like me on the forum, may I thank all you professionals who so generously answer our queries, easy or hard.

As a PS to Peter, it was a pleasure meeting you at your open day last Saturday; a most enjoyable outing for me.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Sorry for the delay in responding but our internet connection has been "flaky" during the last week. Anyhow, many thanks for everyone's input. On behalf of the hobbyists like me on the forum, may I thank all you professionals who so generously answer our queries, easy or hard.

As a PS to Peter, it was a pleasure meeting you at your open day last Saturday; a most enjoyable outing for me.

Good to meet you, thanks for supporting the Open Day, let us know how you get on with your material suppliers and construction.
Cheers Peter

 

[mahomo59]

I'm in Bristol if you need help, or a loan of a piece of kit. Avonplywood is also very good for sheet material. Although I own a lot of equipment, plunge saw, Kapex etc... I generally put in a cutting list of all my requirements when doing a project like this, very accurate, a lot quicker and a lot easier to get in and out of the van. This also lip, 0.6mm and 3mm if that helps. Tulip wood I get from timberscut4you.co.uk again no problems as of yet.
My single garage, is having a make over, insulated, painted, new cabinets, bench etc...cannot wait to make stuff again.

Best of luck.

James

 

[Student]

Thanks for the offer James. I should be alright once I get SWMBO to agree my final plans and source the materials. When getting the materials, I'll bear Avon Plywoods in mind as well as Clarks Wood as mentioned by Peter.

Martin