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newb cabinetry questions
markiej:
Hi all! I more or less finished my design, and have done some research on the assembly piece, but watching a ton of assembly videos and posts, I'm still a bit confused about a number of things.
* Why 3/4"? The total weight of components in my setup is maybe 30 pounds - it seems like most of the support is for the cabinet itself, which, if using 3/4", requires that much more support - would it be a terrible idea to use 1/2"? I'm asking because I really only want this thing to be as heavy and complex as it absolutely needs to be.
* Let's stick with an assumption of 3/4", because that's what I designed. Would 1.5"x1.5" pieces of different length be adequate as support wood (battens?)?
* How are they employed? From what I've seen, battens are glued/nailed into the sideboard. Then it gets foggy for me - what other attachments are employed, and are different methods applied depending upon the circumstances?
* The top back panel doesn't need to be a door, but I would like it easily removable if I have to troubleshoot the monitor. I think I'm hearing that MDF doesn't lend itself naturally to re-attaching things.
* I want to permanently attach the control deck to the small front piece, because I think a hinge there would make it easier to to get full access. Is that dumb?
Thanks in advance for any and all responses, or no responses. Cheers!
yotsuya:
Stick with 3/4 - the sturdiness will pay off in the end.
Ond:
Some thoughts on using battens. The size you mentioned sounds fine. In your diagram, the blue "Screwed here?" indicator. It's not a good idea to drive screws or nails directly into the edges of MDF even 3/4" thick. MDF splits really easily on its edges.
Driving screws into battens from the outside to the inside of the cabinet at the green and red arrows is recommended. Just countersink the screws slightly so you can overfill the screw points with Bondo or similar. Gluing and screwing using battens makes for strong joints. Glued joints are very strong using white/Yellow water based MDF glue (once completely dry). Scews in this case are mainly used for keeping the panels in position while the glue dries.
If you don't use glue you can still drive screws from the inside to out to keep your panel surfaces smooth but joints are not as strong. See my Metropolis project thread on the main board for details on using battens, screws etc.
markiej:
--- Quote from: yotsuya on September 01, 2019, 03:28:29 pm ---Stick with 3/4 - the sturdiness will pay off in the end.
--- End quote ---
OK, I'm sold - as I was poking around I realized that 1/2" tends to be for shorter, smaller things, especially MDF, which is relatively snappable.
markiej:
--- Quote from: Ond on September 02, 2019, 03:18:27 am ---Some thoughts on using battens. The size you mentioned sounds fine. In your diagram, the blue "Screwed here?" indicator. It's not a good idea to drive screws or nails directly into the edges of MDF even 3/4" thick. MDF splits really easily on its edges.
Driving screws into battens from the outside to the inside of the cabinet at the green and red arrows is recommended. Just countersink the screws slightly so you can overfill the screw points with Bondo or similar. Gluing and screwing using battens makes for strong joints. Glued joints are very strong using white/Yellow water based MDF glue (once completely dry). Scews in this case are mainly used for keeping the panels in position while the glue dries.
If you don't use glue you can still drive screws from the inside to out to keep your panel surfaces smooth but joints are not as strong. See my Metropolis project thread on the main board for details on using battens, screws etc.
--- End quote ---
Thanks so much for helping to clear this up for me! I'll definitely check out the metropolis thread.
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