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Wood for Cabinet - need opinions and facts! :)
seaner:
I'm using 5/8" particleboard for mine. No complaints. It was about 30% cheaper than MDF, and my wife was with me when I bought, so that was a deciding factor :P
Distortion:
Another thing about the MDF dust is that (for me anyway) it causes rashes when it gets on your skin. Make sure you shower right after having done a lot of work. I put of showering for a few hours and ended up with a rash on my arm....oh well, I should be done with all that sawing business today.
MrTeamWork:
THANK YOU ALL! This was exactly the infomation I was in need of! :) Off to the Home Depot for me later :)
I will keep ya'll filled in, and produce pics when the cabinet is done :)
Chad:
Ya, MDF has some Formaldehyde in the glue they use. There are some safty sites on the web that tells about using MDF.
Here is a artical about it:
http://www.gpmu.org.uk/hs/health/msg00009.html
Formaldehyde resin is in all In ALL fibreboards. So use some form of protection should be used for "safe cutting."
kalkin:
I have only built one cab but at the beginning of the building process I had to choose between particle board and MDF.
Particle board is cheaper than MDF but in my opinion it is also a bit more porous and seems more sensitive to moisture than MDF. Also it has a more rough surface than MDF which makes it less good for painting but equally good for laminating. In the end I went for 3/4" MDF partly because it seemed more durable and partly because I wanted a smooth surface to paint. The only thing I regret was using 3/4" instead of 5/8" as the cab is very heavy.
I'd consider oak or pine only as a last resort to have my cab design approved by the so-called "department of furniture".
Exotic woods..? Balsa wood maybe? ;D