Woah... tons of issues to address... still, it's good to see something like this
can be addressed without pyrotechnics...
<guessin I'll need to roll the sleeves up for this post.....
Now then...
Tim Wrote
Can't help but think that the flat pack kitchen units you refer to are chipboard and not MDF.
Exactly right Tim. I recognize it might not have been the best example to use, but at that time of night it was the best example of a stressed skin I could think of. From the descriptions I've read of both chipboard and MDF, they behave very similarly when used as structural material, in that they both need as much help as they can get...
re market dynamics....
doing this as a pass-time, I fully recognize that the absence of pressure to make a living from my craft enables me to take a seemingly "high brow" attitude; I hope that's
not the impression that my posts put over... I fully recognize that "in the real world" things are a whole lot more complex, and compromises need to be made; it's not the first time I've had to patch an ROV together with offcuts from the wire-room floor...
But that said, it's not the first time that I've been forced to use 3rd rate material in spite of raising valid objections to it. Those materials force compromises that end up making the job take longer, pushing the costs beyond the savings they made by using the rubbish materials in the first place...
When it comes to finishing, I'll fess up to being bone idol... having tried the varnish route, and had it come back to haunt me later, these days I stick to easy to use, easy to clean, easy to repair finishes; sand in some oil, wipe on some wax, give it some elbow grease and call it done.... So far I've been fortunate in that every time I've done that, it's worked out fine... For me, the important part is that the finish lets the character in the wood speak for itself; there's plenty I can do to spoil it... very little that will improve it... I know when to leave well alone.....
Gill wrote...
I wonder how many budding woodworkers are put off by forums such as this simply because they don't work in the approved medium. It must be so discouraging to browse a forum and come the conclusion that your proud creation will probably be sneered upon because it doesn't conform to the tradional techniques. I suspect that many younger people will develop a love of woodwork through their experience of handling man-made boards. If 'proper' woodworkers don't give such folk encouragement and recognise the validity of their work, the next generation of woodworkers might be killed off altogether.
I get the feeling that I (among others here) am getting a lecture.
Gill... I can see your point, strange though it may seem, however I prefer to think (correct me if I'm wrong) that your point doesn't carry much weight.. The fact that I'm here, building the projects I choose, using materials I prefer to use is proof of that...
My very first project needed 10 sheets of the cheapest, nastiest 18mm ply that my meagre budget could afford; the spec was to build 2 massive and one tiny corner units, a book case, and almost 100 linear feet of shelving; dust collectors, for the placement of. To assist/encourage me to get off my backside and build it I was given a router for my b/day. I'd no previous experience of building anything like it, no books, no assistance, no other tools, no workshop to build the stuff in, no clue that online forums existed, and my only guide re how to get it done was years of watching Norm.... Somehow, I managed to get the lot done using just simple joints, rebates, dado's and mitred butt joints. The edges were dressed up using off the shelf lengths of hardwood, everything was sanded with a tiny detail sander (took forever and killed my first shop vac) and left me thoroughly disappointed with the outcome (although SWMBO still sings its praises). I knew I could do better, so I bought a pair of elm boards; both of them rough cut, waney edged and roughly milled to thickness at the saw mill. Just using the table saw, I managed to make 5 small raised panel doors; I didn't know it at the time, but I'd used bridle joints to make the door frames, and making them was my introduction to violent kickback. The last piece was just about big enough to make a drawer front, and it was the grain in that piece that sold me on the idea that
this was what I wanted to do... and
this was what I wanted to work with; locally grown, locally managed, locally milled hardwoods...
4 years on I've yet to regret that decision.
Part-way through that first project I stumbled onto the FWW web site; my education in how things should be done began there... helped no end through the Knots forum... since then, I found the UKW forum, furthering my education in the process...
I'd say that contrary to being put off, seeing examples of how things
can be done has served to fuel my determination to improve, my tools, techniques and knowledge...
