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artificial wood laminate vs. real wood
rhd:
Is it really cheaper to go with the laminate? I used a combination of 3/4" oak plywood for the sides and black laminated 1/2" plywood for the cross pieces. The black formica laminate was around $40 for a 4' by 8' sheet and the oak plywood was about the same price.
The other factor to consider is weight. MDF is a lot heavier than plywood and can also absorb moisture. On the flip side, MDF is easier to work with than plywood.
Rob
ItzMR2u:
I had a regular partical board cab, but I also wanted the real wood look of oak so instead of building an all oak machine or using laminate which I also think looks cheap I covered the machine with a 1/8" think real oak veneer that Home Depot sells. They use this type of stuff on kitchen remodels, it's easy to work with and when stained you can't tell it's not solid oak.
Wienerdog:
--- Quote from: ItzMR2u on March 26, 2003, 02:04:25 pm ---I had a regular partical board cab, but I also wanted the real wood look of oak so instead of building an all oak machine or using laminate which I also think looks cheap I covered the machine with a 1/8" think real oak veneer that Home Depot sells. They use this type of stuff on kitchen remodels, it's easy to work with and when stained you can't tell it's not solid oak.
--- End quote ---
That was a good solution. What you really did was made your own oak plywood (your's was a little better than the 3/4" 4x8 sheets you can buy at HD). That is what I was getting at in my earlier post. Ultimately, this is a more expensive solution and more work than using oak plywood in the beginning, but your cab was already built so you didn't really have a choice.. With the right T-Molding, there would be no way to tell that you did this.
ItzMR2u:
Yeah the t-molding was the only difficult part if you want to call it that. Since the groove for the molding was already cut in the 3/4 in PB, when I added the 1/8" veneer the t-molding didn't cover it. What I did was buy 1.50" molding and a 2-sided t-molding cutter. I installed the t-molding, used the 2-sided cutter to trim it to an exact fit and presto perfect 7/8" inch molding!
neuromancer:
Fake anything sucks.
If you're going to do laminate, then laminate it with something that takes advantage of the properties of laminate and screams "I am laminate". *RED* or *GREEN* or something.
If you want wood, then get wood.
Woode. There is no substitute.
;-)
Bob