TV Cabinet

[Stagecarpenter]

I'm thinking of building a TV cabinet that will obviously have to hold quite a lot of weight. Is MDF suitable for this?

Thanks

Gareth

 

[masona]

Yes it is okay but depend how you're going to make it and where the supports are

 

[big-all]

pretty much as masona says any top made from 12 or 18mdf will need a frame to support the edges so they dont sag
of course it all dependant on how much weight ect
in general if your talking 1m side to side if you have a central support [partirion front to back] you will need a 44mm visual [by 18mm]mdf thickness to support the front edge
or perhaps a bit off 2x1" side on 20mm side to prevent sagging
all depends on weight and construction

 

[ModernMaterials]

No its not

Thats why the americans have banned it.

its just really small particles of wood moulded with nasty glue.

If you went to a double glazing supplier and looked in their skip, you would probably find a couple of pine doors which you could turn into a cabinet and have a lot of fun taking them to bits which in turn would teach you how a door is constructed.

 

[Scrit]

No its not

So tell use, dude, just what do you know that the rest of us don't? MDF is an excellent low-cost material which is highly consistent and can be made into loads of stuff. That's why I used to make batches of veneered and lipped MDF TV/video stands - and why I still turn out the odd one or two There is a knack to designing anything made from sheet materials so that it doesn't sag, but even there there's an on-line calculator, the Sagulator, which will allow you to calculate the amount of "droop" a given material will display under load. Take a look.

Thats why the Americans have banned it.

I'd suggest reading something other than the Daily Express if I were you MDF most certainly hasn't been banned in the USA, there isn't any talk of it there, and in any case one of the world's largest manufacturers of MDF, the Weyerhaeuser Corporation (of Medite fame) just happens to be American! They even developed a special zero formaldehyde version of their product for use in the Smithsonian Institute archival section, medical labs, etc.

its just really small particles of wood moulded with nasty glue.

Can't dispute the small particles bit, however I suppose the "nasty glue" is a reference to the use of formaldehyde contained in glues. For a number of years now all MDF produced within the EU has met what is called the E1 formaldehyde standard - in other words if unsealed it outgasses at less than the recommended domestic exposure factor of 0.1 parts per million. In view of the fact that most furniture producrs are sealed, either by painting or lacquering this level drops even further.

What surprises me is that you choose to use the handle "Modern Materials". Or is that just sacrasm

For the benefit of the OP - MDF is an eminently suitable material. Because it does create a fine dust when sawing you are well advised to work out of doors or at least use a vacuum cleaner hooked up to your power tools when cutting, sanding, routing, etc. You are also advised to wear a face mask, although that advice also goes for sawing or sanding softwoods, hardwoods, etc. The dust off MDF causes no more irritation than other wood/saw dusts and should be treated in a similar fashion.

Scrit

 

[masona]

Thats why the americans have banned it.

Oh no they haven't, it's just rumours

It was to do with producing too much dusts and the H&S stepped in to protect the workers by undating their workshops to control the fine dusts

 

[wanabechippie]

it outgasses at less than the recommended domestic exposure factor of 0.1 parts per million. .

Scrit

Damn, dude! You know your wood .... er, so to speak!

 

[Scrit]

Yeah, sad innit?

Like the logo! ("I breathe therefore....")

 

[Stagecarpenter]

Thanks for the replies guys, they were really helpful. i'm going to get to work on it as soon as possible. First, I'll explain just what it is that I am building. It is a rather large (W=42ins/106.5cm, H=40ins/101.5cm, D= 24ins/61cm). It is designed to hold a widescreen television, and has drawers, a small cupboard, and compartments for holding DVD'd and Videos, as well as slots to accomodate a DVD player and a VCR. At the back it will have a door which will allow you to gain access to the back of the television, DVD player and VCR. I would like to use something like pine, but I am working on a low budget.

 

[Scrit]

Granted it's a large TV stand, however TV corner units are all much of a muchness, basically they're like this:

To take the extra weight of your large TV unit I'd suggest putting solid 18mm backs into the side openings and bracing the centre opening with three or four 70 to 100 mm wide cross braces beneath the TV itself and with at least the one cross brace at the bottom/rear. The feet will need to be located beneath the uprights to stop it all from sagging over time, so that means you'll probably need 8 feet rather than usual four. Other than that it is still a relatively simple piece to make and 18mm MDF is well up to the task providing you can glue and screw it together to form box sections. I used to make kids furniture out of 18mm MDF and if a piece of furniture couldn't stand my 85kg on top of it then it simply wasn't strong enough, IMHO. I never broke a single piece, although all were designed more-or less as a series of boxes with one side open.

Scrit