I went to Home Depot last night and priced various types of lumber for the benchtop. I really like the feel and structure of MDF as compared to all others (except birch and oak, which are prohibitively expensive). It's a decent price, not much more than the various types of plywood, and it's pre-cut into the sizes I want. BUT I have been reading that it doesn't take screws very well. I was planning on using Gorilla Glue for the flat parts of the bench and screws for the legs (want to be able to take them apart later if I move).
Can anyone else recommend/share horror stories about MDF? Thanks.
MDF is not very rigid, so it will need support closer together below it than, say, 1/2" plywood. It does not take screws well at all on the smooth side, but pre-drilling and countersinking will give you a nice finish and it will be tight, especially if you also glue.
If you send screws into the rough edge of the MDF, prepare for failures...it will split and spawl, and generally not work well at all. Same for nails.
I used 1/4" MDF for spline roadbed, and it worked very nicely indeed. However, I pre-dilled each and every time I wanted to use fasteners.
I feel that it could benefit from some sort of sealant, too. It absorbs moisture something fierce, so it will not be dimensionally stable.
pcarrell wrote:Darn, Selector beat me to it! He posted while I was typing!
I haaaate when that happens!!!!
I use straight 2-inch foam, no wood at all. I'm very happy with it. I do NOT use Tortoises, though, so if you plan to use them then consider this fair warning. You can't use screws in the foam at all. You could glue on a small wood plate and use that to mount a Tortoise, though.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MDF is heavy and if you do use screws use a course thread. This leaves lots of wood for bite, treat it as you would soft wood. OSB is strong has a fairly smooth surface and is stable and a lot cheaper than plywood and compaired to 3 ply CDX stronger in my opinion. The luan back foam is quite attractive and on my next layout is the way I'll go.
Jim
MisterBeasley wrote: I use straight 2-inch foam, no wood at all. I'm very happy with it. I do NOT use Tortoises, though, so if you plan to use them then consider this fair warning. You can't use screws in the foam at all. You could glue on a small wood plate and use that to mount a Tortoise, though.
Mr. B, I have successfully used those large white plastic wall anchors in foam. Once you have them in, a regular screw holding a Tortoise should work just fine.
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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