Help please

[renagades]

Hi there,
I have recently built a boot install for some stereo equipment in my car out of MDF.

Instead of re-trimming the wood like everyone else does i thought i'd do something different and stain it the colour i wanted then make it shiney by adding a clear coat (polyurethene?)

I have little/no experience of this sort of work and wondered if anyone could offer any advice. I'd like it to look really good and i can probably stain it ok, but how do i get it to look shiney, and so it doesn't look like i stained it.

Please help.

Thankyou.

 

[big-all]

mdf has no grain so dosnt realy look very good

the only easy way to get any thing that looks remotely like grain is to get coloured varnish lay it on a bit thick and brush a grain in but it still dosnt look that good

 

[Scrit]

Agreed - stained MDF looks like the edges of those cheap pub tables you see around these days. Horrid! The only way to get a wood grain finish on MDF is to use veneered MDF to start with (like the pub tables)

If you want to get a good finish on MDF it is possible, but it takes a bit of work, basically because MDF is the woodworker's equivalent of blotting paper and it isn't guaranteed to take stain evenly in my experience. You need to sand, seal and resand the edges several times to seal the edge grain. If you are laying down a solid colour the cheapest method is to use drywall jointing compound which is fine, sands well and dries quickly - if you want to put a clear lcquer finish on to it then I'd recommend a clear acrylic MDF sealant or even a white French polish. Sand to around 240/320grit before surface finishing.

Whatever you do resist the temptation to slap on a thick coat of any finish - multiple thin coats will produce a far better finish which is less likely to craze. Between coats the surface should be allowed to dry and then denibbed using a Scotchbrite denibbing pad (grey, available from places like Machine Mart, Dulux Centres, etc) then wiped down with a lint-free cloth (old tea towel or T-shirt, well washed) and some solvent such as white spirits to remove any sanding dust.

Good luck

Scrit

 

[renagades]

Ok if i was to re-build the boot install form plywood which wouldn't be too hard as i'd just trace the exsisting pieces.

Would that have all the natural grainy look etc.

the computer desk i'm on now is nice wood with nots and grains and things in it and obviously i would not get that from mdf but would i get it from ply wood?

And i bought some wood dye in victorian oak and tried a bit on the mdf, not impressed, would i be impressed on plywood?

Thankyou.

 

[Scrit]

Probably not! Depends on the plywood. If you use birch ply it won't stain very well, same with Douglas fir ply and the far eastern or African stuff (like Gaboon ply) will probably end up with very coarse edges and a coarse grain structure. For a wood grain such as oak you need the real wood or a veneer. Why not take a look at wood-veneered chipboard or MDF instead? The edges can then be finished with iron-on (hot-melt) wood edging tape and it would all stain well.

Scrit

 

[breezer]

would i be impressed on plywood?

why not buy a small piece of plywood "sample" and try it and see

 

[renagades]

appreciate everyones help, had some advice today on using veneered chipboard which i see someones posted above, i'll post some pics of it all when it's finished in a week or two!

 

[Gary_M]

Hi,

I've used Paint & Grain on many things and it can look very convincing if you take your time to do it. This would prevent you from having to build another box or covering that one with ply.

I would imagine that one of the lighter colours of Paint & Grain could look really good with a woodstain/coloured varnish over the top, although I have never tried it

Good luck with whichever method you go for