Any joinery people here? I need some MDF help.

[Aperitif]

I've got a self powered positive pressure respitator. It's a pain to wear because it cuts down visibility but the polycarbonate visor offers some eye protection. That's quite handy if a 75mm cutter decides to part company with the collet at 8000 rpm.

You're using your mask in conjunction with a dust extraction unit, right? And you're clean shaven? (debatable, given your propensity to go trawling the offies in Hammersmith...and random begging.)
And of course, mind the formaldehyde! In another world, I was building a bed for a customer and she specified 'no added formaldehyde' etc - the sheets were also 10 x 4s...and the whole lot was suspended 3 metres up, hanging from enormous ceiling-mounted threaded bolts. Ah - the good ole days of Hopton St - before the Tate even opened!
Are you working on cut sizes, or are you machining then cutting? There are MDF suppliers who will do the cut size thing, and could possibly get your spec. and dice it up ready for you to play.
PS. The raised and fielded panel look, with rag-rolled finish is long gone, Martin. Shape up.
PPS. A 'before' photo will help us appreciate the task in hand. Why not organise a working party - you'll end up with the ultimate 'Memphis' bit of furniture if we can all have a crack at it!

http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/faq-mdf.htm

 

[classic33]

The densest that I can find (on paper) is Caberwood Industrial, 760 kg per cubic metre. Kronospan Deep Router is 700kg, and Medite Industrial is 740kg. They all seem pretty impossible to get hold of but I'm still thrashing about. Medite Plus has been discontinued.

The Bradford depot/branch have it in stock.

 

[slowmotion]

I've got a Powermatic 66 ten inch table saw that we imported from the US decades ago when the exchange rate was favourable.so I can rip and cross-cut the panels to any size I want myself. I'll use biscuits and rebates for the joints and then start attacking it with my router. The respirator has a belt-mounted battery and fan pack which blows filtered air down over your face so you don't need one of those ghastly tight fitting rubber masks that are utter misery to wear. It's similar to this......

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...97FCCR02U7000000_nid=GSKK50QSL0beVHK1T0WDSNgl

 

[Aperitif]

Don't do it! The penny (or 900 of them) has just dropped!

A boatbuilder, with his biscuit, a joint and his tool in the background...

If you don't whet our appetites with more detail, I'm going to threaten you with a threeplysmcginty custom video - to put you off MDF (great initials) for life!

 

[MontyVeda]

MDF isn't quite the carcinogenic horror it's made out to be - http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/faq-mdf.htm.
You should always use the appropriate PPE when working with wood dust anyway - http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg53.pdf

The HSE oft come in for a good slagging off but the their website is a first-rate resource centre.

^^^ this... MDF gets all the attention and people wrongly assume the general wood dust is OK... it isn't

 

[Aperitif]

^^^ this... MDF gets all the attention and people wrongly assume the general wood dust is OK... it isn't

Don't patronise that farking self-gratification artist - he's always pissed. Don't you read the 'beer' thread?

 

[vernon]

Don't do it! The penny (or 900 of them) has just dropped!

A boatbuilder, with his biscuit, a joint and his tool in the background...

If you don't whet our appetites with more detail, I'm going to threaten you with a threeplysmcginty custom video - to put you off MDF (great initials) for life!

Funnily enough I read their sorry tale in the Metro on the train home tonight. The numpties used coat hangars and £9 worth of silicon glue to hold the boat together and had to ring the coast guard to rescue them when they were 200 yards from shore and drifting further off shore when their oars broke.

The coastguards destroyed the boat once they were towed ashore.

They rival me for recklessness.

 

[slowmotion]

Funnily enough I read their sorry tale in the Metro on the train home tonight. The numpties used coat hangars and £9 worth of silicon glue to hold the boat together and had to ring the coast guard to rescue them when they were 200 yards from shore and drifting further off shore when their oars broke.

The coastguards destroyed the boat once they were towed ashore.

They rival me for recklessness.

Actually, it reminds me of one of those Ghanaian coffins.

http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/coffins.htm

 

[Aperitif]

Looks like you're making progress...slomo but sure...

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 3635653, member: 9609"]Good, I've never been very careful when using it, what with that, the coal dust, the asbestos and 35 years of heavy smoking - i'm not sure I'm long for this world - lol[/QUOTE]A long time ago I was explaining to a friend how blooming awkward it was to use a dust mask/visor when routing MDF. His advice?

"Drill a hole in the visor so you can still drag on your ciggie..."

 

[threebikesmcginty]

A long time ago I was explaining to a friend how blooming awkward it was to use a dust mask/visor when routing MDF. His advice?

"Drill a hole in the visor so you can still drag on your ciggie..."

In the good old days I knew a 2nd fix carpenter who used to keep a pair of slippers on each site he worked on, comfort above all else. Mind you, I can talk - I'm surprised I'm not dead some of the stuff we used to do when I worked for a demolition firm and then a timber company.

 

[slowmotion]

In the good old days I knew a 2nd fix carpenter who used to keep a pair of slippers on each site he worked on, comfort above all else. Mind you, I can talk - I'm surprised I'm not dead some of the stuff we used to do when I worked for a demolition firm and then a timber company.

Back then, there were far fewer regulations and "blame culture" hadn't got into full swing. If you worked for a tiny company, you could take a few risks, usually with oneself, and have a lot of fun at the same time.

 

[Aperitif]

Are you going to make some of these?

As with the pic above, credit to this website.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Are you going to make some of these?

As with the pic above, credit to this website.

Easy, that'd be a picnic to make.

 

[slowmotion]

My quest is over. James Latham in Hemel Hempstead sell 1220 x 2440 x 18mm sheets of Kronospan Deep Router Grade MDF for £20.87 plus VAT

BTW @Aperitif, having the rear cog/s inside the chainstay is an absolute abomination.