Properties of MDF...

[Cody Carey]

Wow, Thank you.


I am actually making a Subwoofer box (or two), and needed to compare the properties of MDF and lexan, to see if I could substitute one for the other. After doing so, I went ahead and bought a 4x8 sheet of MDF to construct the box with.
I have another quick question...
Having to fit in the trunk of my car, the box I am making is a very odd shape, and therefore I am having trouble laying out the patterns for the individual side panels of the box on a single 4x8 sheet of wood. Does anyone know of a program or another easy way to do this, aside from making cardboard templates? Something that makes sheetmetal foldouts might help, but I am having trouble finding a program like that...

Any help is appreciated, and thank you A LOT for all that I have recieved so far


-Cody C

[Jack Jones]

Urea-formaldehyde resin along with the very fine dust particles make MDF hard on your lungs. Wear respiratory protection when cutting it.

[Andrew Blair]

As an unrelated but interesting sidenote, MDF's porosity means that you can utilize it on a vaccuum table.

No need to set foam in channels or make jigs for oddly shaped pieces- you can simply lay the board down on the table and if your piece is sufficiently smooth and not porous (Corian works great- i'd imagine lexan and aluminum work too), your piece will hold right down. And you can cut into it, typically without losing your piece.

We did this with our wood shop's router. Works great.