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Warning: MDF Mayhem *cough*!

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Gaston77:
Hello guys,

I was cutting out my latest cabinet from MDF sheets. I was working with a breathing mask, good protection (like everybody should!) and good ventilation. Immediately after I cut the wood I felt that something was wrong. The day after I was coughing like I have never coughed before. I did some research and found that MDF can be toxic and cause chronic lung damage when inhaled! In Europe, there is no warning anywhere and they do cut the wood for you in the DIY stores, so I was surprised to find out that MDF can be such a hazardous material. I spent two weeks hacking up dry coughs, regardless of the protection I used. I even had to stay home from work 2 days because I didn't sleep for 4/5 nights. Nightmare let me tell you!

So if you are cutting out your Cab from those MDF plates; Please pay attention when you're cutting MDF. My advise is to do it outside with the best protection you can find (even if that might seem like overdoing it a little bit). Your health is worth much more than cutting out the arcade cabinet panels.

leapinlew:
Yes! I've heard this discussion on here a few times. I made sure to cut mine outside because of it. Good to hear it again though...

pointdablame:

--- Quote from: leapinlew on May 04, 2006, 11:27:11 am ---Yes! I've heard this discussion on here a few times. I made sure to cut mine outside because of it. Good to hear it again though...

--- End quote ---

You definitely need to cut outside.

And on a much less serious note, yet still very relevant... MDF dust gets EVERYWHERE!!!   You wan't to cut it outside anyway, even if there wasn't a health risk because that stuff just covers the entire room.

BioFreak:
Yep MDF is bad news.
I noticed even when we cut some of it outside.
I still had a sore throat for several days after working with it.
Luckily we didn't have to cut the entire cab out of it.

RickDIII:
Made the mistake of not wearing a dust mask the first time I worked with it. 

Spent the next week blowing particles out of my sinus cavity...

Side note:  MDF dust and boogs make some kinda' indestructable putty concoction...gotta be a use for it somewhere.

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