3/4th inch MDF too big/heavy?

[rivacom]

I've been to any place that would sell wood here in Central New York.  Including 2 Lowes, 2 Home Depots, 2 Ace Hardwares, 2 84 Lumbers, and several smaller wood vendors, and no one has 5/8 inch MDF.  No special orders anywhere for it either.  I'm lucky enough to get a Truck this weekend to pick some stuff up in, but am kinda worried about the 3/4" being too heavy if I have to haul it upstairs ever, anyone use 3/4" and still love it?

[javeryh]

The last cab I built was entirely out of 3/4" MDF.  It is heavy but I don't really need to move it.  It is easily movable with the help of a friend.

[shardian]

Use plywood if you want to save on weight. It will still weigh a ton in the end with a crt in it.

[massive88]

Slightly off topic, but can you route plywood for tmolding?  The main reason I used MDF was for tmolding the edges.  I felt uncertain that it would be possible with plywood.

And if you dont use tmolding, what kind of edge finishing do you do with plywood?

[rivacom]

Maybe i'll give the 3/4ths a shot.  Lowes had it for $26 something, too much?

[brock.sampson]

I'm going to use MDO plywood for my next cabinet.  I think plywood holds screws better then MDF.  MDO is the best of both worlds.  Smooth face ready for paint and way lighter than MDF.  I have not tried to route a t-mold slot in plywood.  I was thinking about doing a double round over for the edge but someone else mentioned that plywood can have voids in it.  I think you'll be okay routing for t-mold.

[sstorkel]

You should be able to route 3/4" plywood without any problems. If you buy cheap plywood, you'll probably find that there are voids at the edges. So you may get some sections were the slot is a bit wider than you'd like, but it shouldn't be enough to compromise the attachment of the T-molding.

[vizzinni]

One issue with t-molding on 3/4" plywood is that it might not really be 3/4".  If it's 3/4" "nominal," then the 3/4" t-molding will be a bit too wide. 

I made the mistake of buying what I thought was 3/4" birch/oak ply at Lowes (becasue I thought the MDF was too heavy) and it was really 18 mm, which, it turns out, is not quite 3/4". 

[Zobeid]

One issue with t-molding on 3/4" plywood is that it might not really be 3/4".  If it's 3/4" "nominal," then the 3/4" t-molding will be a bit too wide. 

You could trim the T-molding to fit.  It'll just be a nuisance.

I corresponded briefly with a fellow who has a business building custom MAME cabinets. . .  out of particle board.  Why particle board?  Because it's cheap (slightly cheaper than MDF) and you "can't" cut a slot for T-molding in plywood.

After a while I realized this guy's business was oriented around slapping together cabinets as quickly and cheaply as possible.  So, from that standpoint it actually made sense.  If you get the cheapest crappy grade of plywood that you can, with lots of void spaces, then slot cutting could be a problem.  With decent plywood it shouldn't be a problem.

[Jdurg]

Yeah, I'm building my CP right now out of Poplar Cabinet Grade plywood (About $16 for a 2'x4' sheet at Home Depot) and I was able to cut the T-Molding slot without any problems at all.  No voids, no problems.

[massive88]

Cool, thanks for the responses.