When did THAT happen??

[Rick Potter]

I am doing fancy, painted door casings for the house, and picked up a couple sheets of MDF from my hardwood supplier, cut them up into right size pieces, and started attaching the trim. Part of the design is a small crown across the top, and I had precut dozens of corner pieces to fit the 3/4" depth of the MDF. They didn't fit!!

This MDF is metric sized, the first I have seen. I didn't realize till I got it home it was also the new lightweight stuff. I guess that makes it LDF.

There goes another special jig, gotta make a new one. So, here I am, taking a thirtysecond or so off each itty bitty maple corner piece individually, using my disk sander.

First they mess up masonite, now MDF. No wonder they call me Grumpy.

Rick Potter

[ray hampton]

no pun intended, but do you spell "Grumpy with one y or two whys ?
good luck with your MDF

[Van Huskey]

That sucks, unfortunately it may be a sign of the future.

[David Weaver]

You know they're really squeezing you when they sell you MDF with less MDF in it to make it lighter. Beancounting to the extreme. Hoefully it doesn't show up hollow at some point.

[Sam Murdoch]

This may depend on your supplier and who their current source is for MDF. It is not all metric. Also it is not all TruPan or Ultralight - just 2 brand names that I am aware of that are light weight MDF products. I'm surprised your supplier did not tell you. Was this from a lumber yard or box store rather than from a plywood/sheet good vendor?
By the way - I really love that there is a light MDF out there. It can be a real asset for door construction, especially cabinet doors.
Too bad that you are having to compensate though. :(

[Rick Potter]

Hi Sam,

It was from a place that specializes in hardwood and sheet goods for cabinets. I had heard of the lightweight stuff before, but never saw it. He loaded it for me and when I got it home I decided I would try it. Never thought to measure the thickness. It was 'Ultralight', I think.

Rick P

[John Coloccia]

My MDF is still standard measurement. I didn't even know you could get metric MDF. It would come in handy so I could mix and match ply with MDF.

[Jeff Duncan]

Lightweight MDF is a great material and I spec it frequently for certain things....however the thickness is usually the same. How thin was your from 3/4"? I'm trying to picture how the difference in thickness affected your trim without being pretty significant?

JeffD

[Bill White]

Uhhhh? I'll probably be banned for life, but didn't ya measure the stuff prior?
I don't trust ANY product to be at "nermal" (Archie Bunker) spec.
Bill

[Van Huskey]

Uhhhh? I'll probably be banned for life, but didn't ya measure the stuff prior?
I don't trust ANY product to be at "nermal" (Archie Bunker) spec.
Bill

For me there is very little material I do not check BUT MDF has always been one of the few I never had to check as it was always pretty much dead on.

[Rick Potter]

Jeff,

Just measured it. It's 1/32 short, just like most metric ply. Remember, these were the short end pieces I had precut. If they were short a bit, I could have lived with it, but being long, they made the main run of crown lift off the flat piece it was to be attached to. Didn't want that.


Bill,

You are banned. If you can't trust MDF, what can you trust?? Turn in your membership card immediately.:eek:

Rick Potter

[Rich Engelhardt]

Great - just one more thing in life to irritate me...

[Jeff Duncan]

Hmmm....how bout' a pic? Show off you fancy trim so we can see what the problem was, cause I still can't picture how the thickness difference caused a problem with trim work?

JeffD

[Tom Hargrove]

Shame on your supplier for passing off metric dimension material as being 3/4" dimension. I respect their decision to sell material made in metric format, and I am used to and expect undersized plywood. But passing this material off as full 3/4" thick is poor customer service. 18mm is not 3/4" . . ..

[Bill White]

"Turn in your membership card immediately.:eek:"
Dang! I knew that was gonna happen. Now where did I put my card?
Have not had the prob with MDF, but ran into some crown molding (all from the same mfg.) that was different widths. I thought I was loosin' my mind when they wouldn't miter correctly.
Bill

[johnny means]

LDF is thinner because it is more often used in industry as a substrate for veneered and laminated materials which will be speced at 3/4". The problem is retailers passing it off as MDF.

[Phil Thien]

Spray it with some water, it will swell 1/32". :)

[Sam Murdoch]

LDF is thinner because it is more often used in industry as a substrate for veneered and laminated materials which will be speced at 3/4". The problem is retailers passing it off as MDF.

Not true - being passed off that is. If your retailers are passing stuff off because they don't know or don't care, or don't think that you know - find another source.

[Mike Heidrick]

Most folks advertise LDf as they can charge more for it. Where did you buy it? CNC guys love it for spoilboards.