Hello & Question.

[Bob Hudson]

Will two pieces of MDF glue up with yellow glue and nails? Making a Torsion Box.

[Tony Bilello]

MDF glues up very well and the nails will hold it while the glue dries so you dont have to wait.
Just make sure there is no dust on the surface of the MDF when gluing. The dust will make the glue bead up and not adhere well to the substrate.
Just wipe the surface with a rag or paper towels with some thinner on it first. I use lacquer thinner or acetone. It flashes off in seconds. No need to get carried away, just a precaution. The paper towels or rags will show you when its clean.

[Mike Heidrick]

I have never done the wipe away step Tony does but I have used a lot of MDF and glueing and screwing works good. I usually predrill for countersunk screws and then glue and screw. I have used drywall screws and Kreg type screws. The screws that pre drill (Type 17 point) work great.

[Bob Hudson]

MDF glues up very well and the nails will hold it while the glue dries so you dont have to wait.
Just make sure there is no dust on the surface of the MDF when gluing. The dust will make the glue bead up and not adhere well to the substrate.
Just wipe the surface with a rag or paper towels with some thinner on it first. I use lacquer thinner or acetone. It flashes off in seconds. No need to get carried away, just a precaution. The paper towels or rags will show you when its clean.

Thank you now i know what i did wrong. Always start with a clean dry surface. The hardest part seems to be toenailing inside the boxes. Back to square one.

[Joe Chritz]

You don't need to get worried about the webs to much. Make sure they are glued and tight to the runners and all is fine. I just popped a couple brads to hold it together until I got the top skin in place on the two I did.

You can help some by using spacers (keeps the piece from sliding) or a long clamp to hold it while you shoot the brad. You can also adjust the size of the pieces to allow you gun to fit better, at least within reason.

Joe

[John Keeton]

Bob, looks like you have gotten some good advice - just wanted to say welcome!

[Craig T. Smith]

Bob, Welcome to the creek. You're in good company, and lots of good info. Craig

[John Jendro]

This is a video of the Wood Whisperer making a torsion box top with mdf.

John


http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-18-assembly-table-torsion-box/