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mdf or plywood
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Nefesis:
i am planning on building a cab next week and wondering whether to get mdf or plywood. i heard 3/4" mdf was really heavy, so i was wondering whether
1. does it have to be 3/4"
2. is plywood lighter than mdf and as sturdy?
FractalWalk:
MDF isn't heavy, it is EXTREMELY FREAKIN' heavy. It doesn't have to be 3/4" but even 5/8" is ridiculously massive.  

Plywood is sronger and much lighter than MDF, but it can be little bit harder to work with depending upon what you're doing.  It's also easier to finish MDF (i.e. paint, laminate).

I like MDF for small projects, but If I were to build another cab, I'd use plywood.
Sylentwulf:
What I'm planning, personally, is 1 sheet of 3/4" MDF, and 2 sheets of 3/4" finished grade plywood.

The MDF is going to be for the control panel, and misc. stuff, the plywood is going to be the side and as much other easier stuff I can do with it.
Nefesis:
Sylentwulf: are all of the sheets 4' x 8'? i might do 1 sheet 4 x 8 of mdf and the other two of plywood, or else all 3 plywood. have some scraps of plywood lying araound, but it's probably only 1/2".  thank you.
OSCAR:
I wouldn't build an entire cab out of 3/4" MDF again.  It was way too heavy and I didn't find much benefit to using it over plywood other than the initial cost of the wood.

Most people that complain about working with plywood are likely referring to cheap pine plywood that has a rough finish.  That leads to either lots of sanding and primer coats to get a halfway decent paint finish, or you figure in the cost of laminate and skip the paint.  What I've used on a couple cabs is a good birch/maple plywood (~ $30 for a 4'x8' sheet) that has a very smooth finish which is easy to paint and leaves a great finish with very little work.  I've also found that a good oil based enamel leaves the best finish with a roller because it takes longer to dry and self levels quite a bit better than water based.

Here is a pic of a cab that is made of 3/4" birch plywood with 1 coat of primer and 1 coat of yellow enamel.  I didn't have to prep the wood surface at all other than run over it real quick with 400 grit sand paper prior to the primer coat.  It turned out with an incredibly smooth finish and is probably the best paint job I've ever achieved on a cab.





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