Adam Heller
04-15-2005, 4:00 PM
Greetings all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am in awe of all the knowledge shared here and I am looking for some tips on something I will be working on this weekend. I have poured over the archives and found a few answers to questions I had, but they also spawned more questions, so I figured I would ask everything here.
I will be building a TV stand this weekend out of MDF. This is for a friend and patterned after one I built for myself a few years back. The piece is basically a rectangular box, with a slightly larger length and width than the TV, with a shelf in the middle and wheel casters bolted to the bottom of it. I did no finishing on it and left the screw holes exposed (no spackling). Also, I used the tried and true "glue and screw" method of assembly. Since this is for someone else, I would like to examine the methods I used previously and (hopefully) built a better one this time around.
The piece is 24 inches deep. When I assembled my last one, I put a line of glue across the edge and put 5 screws down the side, one 2 inches from each edge and 3 between them. Is this overkill? Does someone have some sort of theory about how many screws to use or how much space to leave between screws (every 3 inches? 4 inches?). How close is too close to the edge?
When spackling the screw holes, what do people commonly use? Is any spackle as good as any other? When dried, sanded and primed, will they still be noticeable?
When finishing the final piece (sealing the edges as well), what do people commonly use for MDF? I have read some posts suggesting dewaxed shellac. Finishing is something I have virtually no experience with. I am just looking for smooth edges and would like to prep it for painting. Any recommendations for primer?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Adam
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am in awe of all the knowledge shared here and I am looking for some tips on something I will be working on this weekend. I have poured over the archives and found a few answers to questions I had, but they also spawned more questions, so I figured I would ask everything here.
I will be building a TV stand this weekend out of MDF. This is for a friend and patterned after one I built for myself a few years back. The piece is basically a rectangular box, with a slightly larger length and width than the TV, with a shelf in the middle and wheel casters bolted to the bottom of it. I did no finishing on it and left the screw holes exposed (no spackling). Also, I used the tried and true "glue and screw" method of assembly. Since this is for someone else, I would like to examine the methods I used previously and (hopefully) built a better one this time around.
The piece is 24 inches deep. When I assembled my last one, I put a line of glue across the edge and put 5 screws down the side, one 2 inches from each edge and 3 between them. Is this overkill? Does someone have some sort of theory about how many screws to use or how much space to leave between screws (every 3 inches? 4 inches?). How close is too close to the edge?
When spackling the screw holes, what do people commonly use? Is any spackle as good as any other? When dried, sanded and primed, will they still be noticeable?
When finishing the final piece (sealing the edges as well), what do people commonly use for MDF? I have read some posts suggesting dewaxed shellac. Finishing is something I have virtually no experience with. I am just looking for smooth edges and would like to prep it for painting. Any recommendations for primer?
Thanks a lot in advance,
Adam