Looking for thin, metric MDF...

[Doug Griffith]

...in Southern California, particularly Orange County. I can order true 1/8" and 1/4" from my supplier (CalPanel) but there are many times I'm looking for a place I can physically go to that carries metric sized panels. Home Depot used to carry it but has been out of stock forever (I've tried 5 locations). OSH had it but they are dissappearing around here. Lowes has nothing and Ganahls is hit and miss.

And it needs to be laser cuttable. Not the pinkish, dense MDF that Home Depot sometimes carries.

[David Somers]

Oh Doug Doug Doug,

Give up that metric stuff. It is bad for you and unpatriotic; too easy to figure out. It will rot your brain. Whoever thought a system designed in multiples of 10 could be useful or functional or good for us? Talk about misguided!!!

Focus instead on the measurements of real thinking people.

12 picas in the Sierra's make a lot of noise
But in the shop they add up to a point.
6 points make a good argument provided they are valid and they also add up to an inch.
12 inches make a foot and 3 feet make a yard unless you are drinking beer in which case I don't want your feet in my yard, except of course if I am having a yard sale which is different yet again.
1760 yards to the mile is a lot of beer, provided they are liquid yards and the police don't catch you driving over that mile. Or if as in this case the mile is a statutory mile and not survey or nautical miles each of which of course are most sensibly different.

And then of course it is handy to know that 33/50's of a foot is a link unless it is sausage in which case you also get snouts and other pig parts included with your feet.
Or if the foot is a surveyors foot of which there normally 2 to each healthy surveyor, and 16.5 feet in a rod, which should not be spared lest you spoil the child.
And 4 rods make up a chain which can be used on a gang or used to measure your misdeeds in life should you be in a Dickensian Christmas tale.
10 full lengths of misdeeds forged in your life or chains used for surveying make up a furlong which is anathema to PETA, long fur or short.
8 furlongs make up a survey mile of which 3 make a league and not of extraordinary gentleman unless there are enough of them to lay head to toe for 24 furlongs.
And if you had 2 yards, neither being filled with beer, you would have a fathom, and with only 120 fathoms you would have a cable, which is unfathomable to those with a poor sense of distance. A cable may also have been used in telegraphy and was a sort of predecessor to the tweet. Stop.
8.439 cables will get you a Nautical Mile, which is not to be confused with a statutory mile or a surveyors mile.

What could be simpler?

Oh Doug Doug Doug.
Give up on that base 10 measurement stuff.
Truly!! Step away from that seductive decimal point and come back to the majesty of the imperial measures.

And sorry. I am afraid I have no ideas for sources unless those stores can special order for you? Or perhaps a local lumber store can special order?

Your friend in Seattle who is obviously more than ready for sleep!! <grin>

Dave

[Doug Griffith]

Well now, who'da thunk sleep deprivation increases one's math skills! Thanks Dave.

I still use imperial units for almost everything including contract work when the customer uses metric. Makes for a lot of fun during meetings.

My reasoning for wanting metric MDF is twofold. 1) it is a little thinner compared to it's imperial counterpart so is quicker to cut. 2) it's used for aesthetic pieces and doesn't look as bulky.

In reality, metric MDF is the most common at BORGS and standard is hard to find unless you order it. Probably because it's a little thinner so there's more margin. The problem is that the thin BORG MDF has been hard to find and when I do it is the pinker, denser stuff.

[Walt Langhans]

Well if you want to pay overseas shipping 3mm and 2mm is easy to find in Europe. Not sure that would be worth it in the long run however.

[Kevin Groenke]

We go through 600 sheets+ of .063" Plum Creek Glacier Green (http://www.plumcreek.com/wood-products/medium-density-fiberboard/product-specifications) a year. Plum Creek lists this product as "door crossbands" and "Laminate Grade" HDF. Not easy to find - our vendor orders us a unit at a time and holds them for us until we can take delivery of ~100 at a time. I don't know if your going to find anybody stocking this stuff as it's likely used in production work. Maybe Plum Creek could tell you who they sell it to locally and they'll sell you smaller quantities(or give you drops free!). It's great stuff, cuts like butter and it's indispensable for our students making architectural models.

They list quite a range of thicknesses as available:
-- " --- mm
0.0630 1.6
0.0906 2.3
0.0984 2.5
0.1181 3.0
0.1250 3.2
0.1575 4.0
0.1875 4.8
0.2047 5.2
0.2188 5.6
0.2360 6.0
0.2500 6.4
0.3125 9.3




http://www.plumcreek.com/PlumCreek/media/Library/PDFs/Wood%20Products/HDF-Door-Crossband-Product-Specifications.pdf

-kevin

[Lee DeRaud]

Home Depot used to carry it but has been out of stock forever (I've tried 5 locations).The one in Anaheim Hills had 3mm and 6mm a couple weeks ago...it's about a mile a mile from my house, I'll try to remember to check today on my way to the gym.

[Lee DeRaud]

Give up that metric stuff. It is bad for you and unpatriotic; too easy to figure out. It will rot your brain. Whoever thought a system designed in multiples of 10 could be useful or functional or good for us? Talk about misguided!!!My favorite "metric is holy" moment came years ago on the rec.woodworking Usenet group, when some twit claimed that metric was the way to go because "base 10 is how computers work". Apparently the only tidbit of computer science that ever stuck for him involved BCD and Cobol.
(As I always say: there are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary arithmetic and those who don't.)

[David Somers]

Lee, Be kind to that person. Not everyone realizes that counting in binary is as easy as 01 10 11.

Here is a bad math geek joke for you.
A Roman enters a bar and holds up 2 fingers and tells the bartender "5 beers please."

Dave

[Doug Griffith]

The one in Anaheim Hills had 3mm and 6mm a couple weeks ago...it's about a mile a mile from my house, I'll try to remember to check today on my way to the gym.

That would be great. Even better if they already have it cut down to fit in their 2x4 rack so it fits in my car.

[Doug Griffith]

We go through 600 sheets+ of .063" Plum Creek Glacier Green (http://www.plumcreek.com/wood-products/medium-density-fiberboard/product-specifications) a year. Plum Creek lists this product as "door crossbands" and "Laminate Grade" HDF. Not easy to find - our vendor orders us a unit at a time and holds them for us until we can take delivery of ~100 at a time. I don't know if your going to find anybody stocking this stuff as it's likely used in production work. Maybe Plum Creek could tell you who they sell it to locally and they'll sell you smaller quantities(or give you drops free!). It's great stuff, cuts like butter and it's indispensable for our students making architectural models.

They list quite a range of thicknesses as available:
-- " --- mm
0.0630 1.6
0.0906 2.3
0.0984 2.5
0.1181 3.0
0.1250 3.2
0.1575 4.0
0.1875 4.8
0.2047 5.2
0.2188 5.6
0.2360 6.0
0.2500 6.4
0.3125 9.3




http://www.plumcreek.com/PlumCreek/media/Library/PDFs/Wood%20Products/HDF-Door-Crossband-Product-Specifications.pdf

-kevin

That looks handy to have around. I might need to find a way to order 100 at a time.

[Lee DeRaud]

That would be great. Even better if they already have it cut down to fit in their 2x4 rack so it fits in my car.Yup, looks like they restocked since my last run: full bin of 6mm (maybe 25-30, less the three I just bought) and full bin of 3mm. Just north of Weir Canyon exit off the 91..."handy panel" bin is in the back left corner.

If you need mass quantities, I'd check Reel Lumber in Anaheim: much cheaper and only a couple bucks for the two cuts it takes to get it into car-friendly chunks.

[Doug Griffith]

Yup, looks like they restocked since my last run: full bin of 6mm (maybe 25-30, less the three I just bought) and full bin of 3mm. Just north of Weir Canyon exit off the 91..."handy panel" bin is in the back left corner.

If you need mass quantities, I'd check Reel Lumber in Anaheim: much cheaper and only a couple bucks for the two cuts it takes to get it into car-friendly chunks.

Thanks Lee. Looks like I'm heading out there ASAP. I didn't have any success at REEL the last time I was there. On a side note, if you are ever looking for a great place for hardwoods, Austin Hardwoods in Santa Ana is the place to go. It's a goldmine.

[David Somers]

Doug, I know CA is pretty small compared to the rest of the nation...barely bigger than Rhode Island really.....but have you guys in that immediate area thought about doing a group buy on items that are hard to get from local suppliers? Might be worth it if I am reading everyone's posts on this particular style of board? If I were a bit more local to you I would volunteer to schlepp the stuff to each of you, but Seattle is a bit far for that. Just a thought if you are relatively close to each other.

Dave

[Lee DeRaud]

On a side note, if you are ever looking for a great place for hardwoods, Austin Hardwoods in Santa Ana is the place to go. It's a goldmine.Too dangerous: I've never gone there without spending at least $250. :eek: