Hinges on thin MDF

[Dylan123]

Hi,

I have 2 large cavities at my house. One under the balcony and one under the kitchen. Both were just covered by a piece of old ply.

I am putting a slightly better solution in. I’ve made a frame of 2b2 and will screw into the concrete/bricks so the opening to the cavity has a wooden frame. I am cutting a sheet of 6mm MDF to cover this and putting hinges on it so it’s a door of sorts to keep the rain/cats/opportunistic thieves out (I know 6mm MDF isn’t much of a deterrent but it’s going to take at least some tools and effort to get it open as I will be padlocking it shut). After all, windows are easily broken if someone’s determined!)

Anyway, the hinges will be fastened by screws into the frame and into the MDF - but the screws are like 20mm so will be miles through the board. Do I use bolts instead? If so, can I get bolts which are hard to unscrew from the outside? I have seen kind of bolts with domes on them for this purpose but don’t know what they are called.

Or do I just screw through with the screws and then cut off the excess with a hacksaw (seems like a bad job that)

Anyway, help appreciated!

thanjs

 

[Burnerman]

MDF is the worst possible material to use outside.....it will deteriorate in no time.
Consider using OSB and painting it well, and use at least 18mm stuff.
John

 

[Dylan123]

MDF is the worst possible material to use outside.....it will deteriorate in no time.
Consider using OSB and painting it well, and use at least 18mm stuff.
John

Now, I thought chipboard was terrible wet! I’ll buy some because this will get rid of the screw issue with 18mm I’ll have plenty of space for screws.

while I have you....I tried cutting the MDF with a jigsaw earlier with little success. I’m doing flooring soon and need to be able to cut straight.

do I need to buy a table saw or any way I can cut long straight cuts on boards? I have a hand mitre but can’t cut boards with it!

I got a jigsaw today, not sure if it’s possible to cut straight with a bit of practice?

Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

OSB is similar to chipboard but larger timber flakes are bound together with resins so its much better but still needs paint or other wood treatment to make it last.
Jigsaws have their place for sure, but for long straight cuts its a bench circular saw or hand held circular saw ideally. For a one off job though, a good new (read sharp) handsaw is great and will do what you need.
Good for developing skills too!
John

 

[Dylan123]

OSB is similar to chipboard but larger timber flakes are bound together with resins so its much better but still needs paint or other wood treatment to make it last.
Jigsaws have their place for sure, but for long straight cuts its a bench circular saw or hand held circular saw ideally. For a one off job though, a good new (read sharp) handsaw is great and will do what you need.
Good for developing skills too!
John

nice one mate, really appreciate the input. I also now know OSB isn’t chipboard, I thought these things were interchangeable!

I’ll just get a handsaw. I have a lot of ply to cut soon as I’m over boarding and wood flooring my living room. Being honest, I’ve got a fairly good arm for sawing....I’ll see if the elbow grease is worth the £100 I’ll save getting a bench or a hand circular.

thanks again buddy

 

[Burnerman]

No worries mate, bear in mind that MDF is only compressed wood dust so you’ll appreciate its limitations.
However if its kept dry and well enough supported it does take paint well with a dedicated primer.
Good luck with your projects, lots of good advice on this forum!
John

 

[foxhole]

Needs ply 18mm minimum, you could put you fist thru 6mm mdf.
You could clad the face with free pallet timber which makes it look more substantial.
Did this with an external cupboard.

 

[Dylan123]

Needs ply 18mm minimum, you could put you fist thru 6mm mdf.
You could clad the face with free pallet timber which makes it look more substantial.
Did this with an external cupboard.

I was mainly worried about weight on the hinges. I have 2 hinges (not sure what they are called but they are basically a triangle that extends about 6 inches, and a small plate that fixes to the frame and is attached by 3 approx 20mm screws)

If I’m putting this much weight on it I’ll have to get another or some bigger hinges. The hatch frame to be screwed into the opening with concrete screws is only 2’ by 2’, I hope it’s strong enough!

this is the smaller of the hatches and it’s purely for junk. The other cavity I’ll put more valuable stuff there so was going to make a Z door from 2b6 and use some bigger timber for the frame.

I’m just a bit confused on how big the hinges need to be

 

[foxhole]

I was mainly worried about weight on the hinges. I have 2 hinges (not sure what they are called but they are basically a triangle that extends about 6 inches, and a small plate that fixes to the frame and is attached by 3 approx 20mm screws)

If I’m putting this much weight on it I’ll have to get another or some bigger hinges. The hatch frame to be screwed into the opening with concrete screws is only 2’ by 2’, I hope it’s strong enough!

Very little weight , mine was fixed with 2x2 inch hinges , with pallet timber on ply you get more like 30mm to screw too.

 

[Dylan123]

Very little weight , mine was fixed with 2x2 inch hinges , with pallet timber on ply you get more like 30mm to screw too.
View attachment 215975

that’s a lovely job mate.

surely to get the ply in the rails you need a bench saw to cut the grooves? I’m working on a kitchen table with hand tools mainly....I was going to try a frame with ply insert but can’t see how I can get the ply to fit inside easily without some better tools

 

[Dylan123]

Very little weight , mine was fixed with 2x2 inch hinges , with pallet timber on ply you get more like 30mm to screw too.
View attachment 215975

wait...you said cladding, that’s just a sheet of 18mm ply with the pallet wood stuck on? If it’s that easy then I will be doing that!

 

[foxhole]

wait...you said cladding, that’s just a sheet of 18mm ply with the pallet wood stuck on? If it’s that easy then I will be doing that!

It’s that easy , screw thru ply to rear of pallet timber .

 

[Dylan123]

It’s that easy , screw thru ply to rear of pallet timber .

thanks. In the words of columbo “just one more question”!

Pallet timber. I googled a few places, I assume you get pallet timber actually still in pallet form so you have to pull it apart, remove the nails and varnish it?

can you actually buy pallet wood ready to
Go?

 

[lostinthelight]

can you actually buy pallet wood ready to
Go?

Buying new defeats the object of sense of achievement of making something useful out of waste..and its cheap

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Yes, people dismantle pallets and sell the timber on eBay. I am sure you can buy packaging-grade timber new also, but probably not in the quantities you'd want for a little DIY project.