MDO Board

[David Sabot]

Hi all. I have a project that I need to do with 1/2" MDO Board. I only need a 2' x 2' piece of material. THe smallest I can find is 4' x 8'. I was wondering if any of you had some extra laying around you could cut for me? I of course would be willing to pay for the material and your time. I am located in Florida if that helps at all.

[Gary Hair]

Check Home Depot or Lowes. Both have various materials cut to sizes like 12x12, 12x24,24x48, etc. You could also check cabinet shops to see if they have any that they can cut for you. If not, it's cheap enough that you could probably buy the whole sheet locally for less than it would cost to have someone ship a piece to you.

[Joe Pelonio]

I've never seen MDO at Lowe's or HD. I'd suggest going to your local sign shop and asking to buy a scrap. I used to buy several sheets at a time of pre-primed MDO but lately I pretty much have switched over to Alumalite, it's a 1/4" thick sandwich material aluminum on both sides and corrugated plastic center. I do have plenty of scraps of that.

[Mike Burroughs]

Menards around here sells it, but only in a 4' x 8' sheet.


Mike

[Mike Hood]

Most will rip it into smaller pieces if they're not too busy. It's dirt cheap in 1/8' and 1/4" thicknesses.

[Joe Pelonio]

Mike, where do you find MD that thin? I've only seen it in 1/2" and 3/4" and that's at upscale lumber yards or a Sign Supply.

[Mike Hood]

Hey.. you're close. Lowes doesn't have it, but I get mine at Martin Lumber on Broadway. I forget the price, but it was like $18/sht for 1/4"

I think Dunn Lumber has it as well. Seems like the smallest they had was 3/8" at one of the two places. Martin's has a great supply of thin ply as well.

[Carol VanArnam]

Is it MDF but different? Why would I want to buy it and what would I use if for?

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Joe;
I found 1/4" MDF at Home Depot- also 1/8" once but seems they no longer carry it. Amazingly, 1/8" and 1/4" hardboard (masonite) cuts very well on the laser-use a lot of the 1/8" wallboard version which has a white painted top surface and engraves very well- cheap at about $12 for a 4x8.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Joe Pelonio]

Just to clarify, MDF (medium density fiberboard) is available locally in thinner sheets. MDO (medium density overlay) is an outdoor plywood which has a resined coating on one or both sides for a perfectly smooth surface, normally used for plywood signs.