5/8" MDF - Where???

[ZeroQuest]

I bought the UAC II plans a couple weeks ago and started my search for 5/8" MDF. Seems nearly everyone carried 1/2" and 3/4", but not 5/8". Those around the Seattle/Tacoma (I'm in Gig Harbor) area know where to get these?

Oh yes... This is my 2nd post here. I'm a newbie to the scene, but have been lurking for quite awhile.

Thanks guys.

[ZeroQuest]

Oh yeah, so far I've tried:

Lumberman's
Home Depot
Lowes

[Jabba]

Sorry man, here in Canada, they sell 5/8" at HD.

If I had no other source, I'd make it out of 1/2" with an internal 2x4 frame. That way it won't be THAT heavy and will be structurally solid.

[brophog]

In the midwest they have 5/8 at home depot as well.

[80sMike]

You might want to try Edensaw.  Not sure which location would suit you better... They have locations in Port Townsend and Kent.  I've been to the PT location and can verify that they have dozens of types and thicknesses of sheet stock; not sure about MDF specifically tho.

[80sMike]

BTW if you want to see something that will make you weep, be sure to check out the gigantic hunk of ebony they have in the front shop at the PT location.  And if the size doesn't impress you, ask them how much they want for it 

[ZeroQuest]

I haven't tried any other HD locations. Maybe I should call around. The local HD isn't that big, maybe they just don't stock it here... I'll try around some more tomorrow.

[80sMike]

Edensaw is the name of a woodworking lumber store...Try www.edensaw.com 

[miles2912]

I bought 3 sheets last night from my local Lowes here in Long Beach CA.  $21 per sheet.  Stuff is heavy.  Have a friend to unload it from your truck.

Don

Oh yeah, so far I've tried:

Lumberman's
Home Depot
Lowes

[missioncontrol]

It may be a bit of a drive but we have it in North Carolina

[More Cowbell]

I used 3/4" for the sides and 1/2" for the top/back/bottom/front. I was hoping to save a little weight in the areas where it didn't matter quite as much. Do your plans call for 5/8" throughout?

[ZeroQuest]

Do your plans call for 5/8" throughout?

They sure do, and I'm far from being an experianced woodworker. I'll try to find a source over the weekend. Going to build the CP out of 3/4 which I already have. (3 2"/4" panels)

[mkuehn]

I was looking for the 5/8" MDF, as well, as I too bought the UAC II plans. Couldn't find it anywhere. Then my friend pointed out that adding the laminate to 5/8" MDF would bring the total thickness to 3/4", and since I'm painting my cabinet, not laminating it, I bought 3/4" MDF, which, of course, I was able to find all over the place. Turned out to be the cheapest at Lowe's, though.

Just thought I'd put that out there; I had never thought of it, and the instructions don't seem to make any mention of it, either.

Later,
Matthew

[Angry_Radish]

I gave up on my search for 5/8, and went with 3/4.
I didn't laminate, so you're mileage may vary, but if you go 3/4, be sure to compensate for the thickness on all the top cross members, or you will end up with 1/8" gaps on each side, and have to recut those pieces..

[mkuehn]

  Seriously?! Wouldn't a 5/8" board laminated 2 sides be 3/4" thick, and in that case, the plans would work for either laminated 5/8" or painted 3/4", without changing the measurements?

Do the UAC II plans mention that anywhere? If so, can you indicate in which step? I'm finding that those plans aren't quite as detailed as I had assumed they were, or information like this would have been included. Also some of the dimensions on the details supplement seem to be missing, such that in order to most easily measure where you need to cut in some places, you have to calculate some of the measurements yourself. 

Thanks for any info, although I do already have most every piece cut...

[Angry_Radish]

That's what I thought too, and it held true for the base, but once you get to the top, the spacing for it to slide over the sides of the base accounts for laminate on both sides as well, so I had to re-cut all the pieces that go from side to side on the top larger.
starting on the monitor base that attaches to the cabinet base, then for all the back and top pieces.

I could be wrong, and maybe I mis-measured somehow (Though I don't know how, I'm a big fan of measuring 4x, then cutting once  ), but if I DID somehow measure wrong, I would have had the same results for the base as well.

I agree the plans could use some help, there were a couple places they were missing dimensions :-)
Make sure you use the addendum for the final dimensions, there are much better drawings there.

To see if I'm right or not, try clamping together the base, and see how the monitor base the goes on top of it sits. That's the point I realized I messed something up.

[Angry_Radish]

Here's a post from someone else this happened to, and how it happens:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=14681.0

[mkuehn]

Cool, so it sounds like you just trim the top three boards by 1/4"...no need to recut them from scratch. I can handle that.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully the people responsible for the UAC II plans see this thread and decide to revise the plans a bit. Or maybe there are revised plans out there...I got mine with the Project Arcade book, and never bothered to check if there was a newer version.

[Angry_Radish]

Not trim, add.
When I built mine, I was 1/4 short on the top pieces, and had to recut
You can see where the top was short in this pic: