Birch Ply or Veneered MDF?

[ByronBlack]

Hi

I'm going to start work on an office suite soon. Mainly built-in desks with provision for cable management and a few drawers. The desks will be going round three corners of the office (3m sq). I'm not sure which material to use.

Basically i've narrowed my choice down to either birch ply, or veneered mdf. I can't stretch to the cost of solid wood due to the size of the desk unit.

I would like to know which material would be the most stable bearing in mind with the widths of the desks, how easy each is to finish, does Veneered MDF require sanding and a finish? Does Birch ply look good without a stain?

In terms of finish, I intend to have a light wood finish (maple, birch, pine etc..) but i'm not stuck to this.

Also, are there any other factors I should consider with these materials?

 

[Colin C]

Hi Byron

I would say that the birch ply would need more sanding than the veneered mdf, as the will always have been sanded before you get it but I have seen the that has beedn sanded a cross the grain.

The ply will hold your fixings much better than the mdf, the ply will look good when they have been sanded and finish IMO.

From what I see you can use both with no problems, I would say go for the cheaper one
Ps How's the new saw and rail
Had to change the Freud but I am happy with what replaced it

 

[LyNx]

i would opt for veneered MDF. The ply may still have knot holes that will have been filled and still don't look too good.

Maple or sycamore veneered MDF will look nice, you can lip with 3mm solid and have a tough old unit. I wouldn't worry about fixing into MDF either, it's only a desk.

Thickness wise, i would say 30mm for the desktop and bases would be fine. Best to support the perimeter of the back edge to stop any sagging between the end panels. You only need a half height panel for this (300mm deep).

Here's a quick image i did for someone.

 

[ByronBlack]

Colin

Thanks for the reply - will consider that. What saw did you get? The festool and rail has been great so far in my initial cuts, the office will be it's first real test!


Andy

Thanks for showing the pic, that's really helped me envision the construction. Do you think pocket-hole and glue would be acceptable for such a large construction?

Also, what thickness should I use for the back? Same as the top, or maybe something a little lighter?

One last question, if i didn't want to lip the front, how durable are the iron-on edge banding?

 

[paulm]

Hi BB,

Others are probably a lot more experienced with this kind of thing than me, but I would suggest the front lipping is pretty important to avoid a cheap feel to the units and the iron on kind of edging I would suspect would deterioate quite quickly and be a bit tacky.

Would guess that cam and dowel might be the way to go rather than pockethole as I am guessing that the units will need to be capable of dismantling and reassembly in situ. If it was me though would probably biscuit joint the uprights into discrete rigid units and cam/dowel the horizontals and top to those, but could use cam/dowels throughout, or perhaps a different kind of knockdown jointing method.

Haven't actually done something similar though so perhaps those that have might have some better ideas !

Cheers, Paul.

 

[LyNx]

BB

PM me your address and i'll send up some of our mod panel fixings. You need to groove the ends of the half height mod panels to fix these. A nice hidden joint that you can dis-assemble with a sharp "whack"

I would use 30mm again for the mod panel. Using the same thickness will reduce the amount of off-cuts.

The only problem with iron-on, is the fact that it'll leave a sharpish edge, and you may find this will start to annoy once you use the desk. Even on square edges desking we still add a 3mm pencil round to the top and bottom edges. As it's a small amount i could send some 3mm edging bander lipping. Just needs to be PVA'd and held on with tape until dry.

You also have to look at your chair. These can really damage the edges of desks, so the thicker the lipping the better. My Aeron really beats the hell out of my lipping, and these are one of the worth chairs for desking damage.

 

[ByronBlack]

Andy

I'll send that PM to you tomorrow, thanks for the headsup regards the fixing. I have an Aeron style chair, and it's got quite heavy armrests, so solid lipping is probably a better idea.

Like your picture, I intend to have curves around the inside of just 90 degree straight joins, will the solid lipping you mention follow the curve? Also, as I may use this for other projects, do you have a link or address of a supplier?

 

[Colin C]

Hi Byron
Like it has been said go for the solid edgeing and as for the saw I when for
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro ... 0&id=23005

 

[LyNx]

will the solid lipping you mention follow the curve

Yes it will. I don't think you could buy this off the shelf as we purchase on massive rolls. I will find out