Best material to skin a stand in?

[dedfish]

I need to skin my metal stand. I was thinking about plywood but I wanted to miter the edges at least in the front where the front and the sides meet. What about mdf? I could easily route the edge to achieve the miter. I plan on painting the stand black so I do not care about wood grains or anything like that. Can mdf be painted so that it can hold up to the occasional splash and drip of water? Are their any special steps to take? Is there a better material?

 

[willray]

MDF will work when properly coated any high quality paint will work gloss or semi gloss, prime it first tho..both sides 2 coats depending on the paint maybe 3. I would go with plywood easier to work, tougher,will not chip,crumble,brake,swell....it not called fallaparticle borad for nothing.
If your painting it what does it matter if it mitered?

 

[smcnally]

I wouldn't miter the edges. I would use cabinet grade plywood and then put hardwood strips along the edges.

 

[NateHanson]

MDF would work fine for painted. I wouldn't use expensive plywood and hardwood edging for painted work because it isn't structural and it won't be seen.

To get a good finish on MDF you need to seal all cuts with bondo, or joint compound (I prefer the bondo - they have a general purpose bondo filler at HD that is very easy to work with). Skim any edges and fill any screw holes, then when it dries in a couple hours sand it smooth. Prime it with a shellac or oil-based primer, and topcoat it. If you want to route profiles, or even make it look like it has raised panels in the middle of the sheet, this is the stuff to use. It machines very easily, and you just have to skim any cuts with joint compound or bondo to get a smooth finish.

MDF costs about $25/sheet for 3/4.

If you want to be more water resistant/long-lasting, you could use MDO (medium density overlay) which is basically exterior grade plywood with resin-impregnated paper covering both sides. You would need to bondo the edges so you don't see the plys through the paint, but the surface is extremely smooth, and paints flawlessly. This stuff is expensive though. About $55 for a 3/4" sheet. Nice to work with.

You can probably get MDF from Home Depot/Lowes, but MDO will have to be found at a lumber yard. (Just a warning if you have a small-vehicle - my lumberyard sells MDF in 8x5 sheets for some reason.)

 

[DavidGallant]

MDF=tons of static...

 

[NateHanson]

Huh? I've never experienced that. Not sure we're talking about the same stuff.

 

[dedfish]

Thanks Nate.

I googled mdf and static and came up with nothing.

I found this when googling mdf last night and I might try to find some locally.
http://www.extira.com/

 

[DavidGallant]

Interesting. When I was in US FIRST Robotics during high school we had a piece of mdf with some metal grating on carpeting as part of our competition, maybe a 10x4 piece, and it used to shock the **** out of me.

 

[delta]

Yes but for 40 bucks you can buy a sheet of birch ply at HD sometime they go on sale for 29.99

On a stand you can make the sides ply and the front a simple wood frame for No ply seams. I would
use at least a semi hardwood like poplar, for the front frame.

 

[NateHanson]

True Greg, and that's certainly a good option for a stained stand, but for painted work, getting a smooth finish on birch is harder than MDF or MDO.

And I'll never by hardwood ply from HD again. The thickness is soooo uneven in a sheet. It makes working with it very difficult. And the coloration of birch ply is often much more irregular than lumberyard birch.

Anyways, Jason's got a few good options here, and any of them will work. Greg does a lot more of this cabinetry-type work than I do, so I should be careful about giving advice after him.

 

[smcnally]

IMO, your asking for trouble using MDF for a stand. I've never seen an MDF stand that wasn't swollen and damaged from water.

 

[stingrae]

Mdo

Use MDO not MDF , MDO is plywood that they use for highway signs and on house ex.

 

[NateHanson]

IMO, your asking for trouble using MDF for a stand. I've never seen an MDF stand that wasn't swollen and damaged from water.

Stands are actually made of Particle-board, not MDF, and I think the problem with them is that they leave the ends untreated, so they soak up water.

That said, you're absolutely right that MDF is not the best with water. But it's cheap and easy to work. If sealed and painted properly, it should hold up very well. Many painted cabinet doors are made of MDF. Particle board is a pain to work with, and ultimately unattractive. It's really only suitable for a substrate for formica, IMO.

 

[delta]

If you us MDF you should ease the edge so they are not sharp, a sligtly rounded edge will hold a finish much better than a sharp edge.

 

[NateHanson]

I'll add that that goes for any material. Probably more important for MDF because the finish is important for longevity, but sharp edges don't hold finish in any material.

 

[smcnally]

Stands are actually made of Particle-board, not MDF, and I think the problem with them is that they leave the ends untreated, so they soak up water.

I was talking about stands made of MDF (not particle board). I know the difference

 

[smcnally]

BTW...just to clarify what I've noticed... The issue with using MDF is that most people don't think of sealing the ends where they join up with the other boards. Even if you paint the whole thing (and forget those hidden ends) then over time the paint in the corners will crack and water can and will get absorbed into the ends. This obviously happens with ply too, but it doesn't seem to damage the plywood as bad.

 

[dedfish]

Isn't MDO going to have the same problems with routing an edge as regular plywood with chipping?

 

[NateHanson]

Yes. MDO is plywood. It's just plywood with a really smooth surface.

You can't rout the edges of MDO. You'll need to either join edges with miters, or use a hardwood face-frame, or edging, or something.

 

[67belvedere]

i have a piece of MDF under my 55 gallon used as a shelf so the tank can be seen from both sides it is about five and a half feet long fifteen inches wide and an inch and a quarter thick with a routed edge tank has been on it for about a year spilled plenty of water on it no swelling or blistering peeling still solid and it is not painted but like i said its 1 1/4 thick probably better than 3/4 MDO or MDF would work fine they are both moisture resistant not water proof MDO would definetly want to miter the ends where they come together and glue or paint to seal because only the paper that is on the outside is moisture resistant the plywood is just regular plywood the thicker MDF is definetly better IMO