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Melamine
shmokes:
Well, I thought that 1up's idea of using black melamine for a cabinet was great, but there's a problem:
NOBODY CARRIES IT!!!
I have checked with nine different lumber yards (the only ones within a one hour drive from me) plus I checked Lowe's and Home Depot. Everyone has one of two possible answers:
1 - "We do not carry it and cannot order it in." or
2 - "We do not carry it, but can order it in if you order seventy 4'x8' sheets instead of three.
The guy at Home Depot was kind enough to let me know that while they can't sell me Melamine prelaminated plywood, they do carry laminate so I could feel free to do it myself ::)
While we're on the subject of wood, if my control panels are only going to be 1/2" thick would it be a good idea to buy oak plywood for strength? I was told that if I buy oak it'll be just like any other plywood I buy but with a thin oak veneer so it would not provide any appreciable extra strength.
_Iz-:
Oak plywood is no stronger than any other plywood and is many times the price for 2 layers of oak on each face less than 1/16" thick...
Maybe try at some places that make kitchen cabinets or furniture. Maybe they'd sell you some sheets for reasonable price.
Laminate would turn out to be quite a bit more expensive but is actually more durable and would be somewhat easier to work with. With laminate, you can cut out your parts, screw the cabinet together and then apply the laminate over top, trimming flush with a router and straight bit + guide bearing.
shmokes:
You're right. I was washing dishes about half an hour ago and it struck me. I did a search for cabinet makers in my area on Qwestdex and about 15 minutes later found someone who can order the material for me. One reason I am leaning toward Melamine is so the cabinet looks relatively nice on the inside as well as the outside. I'll actually still be using laminate on top of the melamine laminet already there.
So, it looks like it would be pretty much useless to use oak for my control panels. Still, I want to use the stongest wood I can since they will be relatively thin. What's best? MDF? Waferboard? Plywood? Particle Board?
_Iz-:
Plywood or OSB are the strongest. (OSB is Oriented Strand Board). MDF would also be fine depending on the size, and any of what you mentioned would be acceptable if you are covering both sides in laminate.
shmokes:
Well...I won't be covering both sides in laminate, per se. I'll cover the outer sides with laminate and the inner-sides will already be covered, but I don't think that the melamine laminate would offer any kind of structural support. It's really thin. Also, I don't plan on using melamine for the control panels. The melamine I ordered is 3/4" thick and I'm only going to use 1/2" thick wood for my control panel, plus a 1/8" laminate and 1/8" Lexan so 3/4" molding will fit perfectly.