parical board vs. plywood

[kickerloud 10+ year member]

exactly what iy says. why dont peole use plywood to build boxs. its stronger. is there any reason why, opinions. all i ever see is people using 3/4 partical board

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[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

its not particle board....its Medium Density fiberboard which is much much denser and stiffer than plywood

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

exactly what iy says. why dont peole use plywood to build boxs. its stronger. is there any reason why, opinions. all i ever see is people using 3/4 partical board

not many on this forum use particle board. mdf is what most use.

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

Its not particle board its MDF

 

[oldschool4me 10+ year member]

plywood is more flexible than MDF. partical board = fail.

 

[revrider1 5,000+ posts]

I use Cardboard for mine? lmao

 

[Mike465 10+ year member]

MDF has many advantages plywood. It's very smooth because the wood fibers used in its manufacture are uniform and fine. This makes it have low "tear out," which means that when sawed, the end has a smooth cut instead of a jagged edge. MDF also has better acoustical properties than plywood and thats why has been used over plywood.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Plywood is normally more expensive than MDF. MDF has no structural strength, whereas ply does. The only advantage MDF would have over ply for boxes is that it's easy to finish.

MDF is superior over plywood for bracing however since it is already compressed to the point where it cannot be compressed on its edges any more. So using MDF for braces will ensure next-to-no wall flexing at all.

I pay double for ply which is why I build test boxes out of MDF. but the finished product is ply.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

I thought a TCAB discussion was about to pop off. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[Mike465 10+ year member]

Plywood is normally more expensive than MDF. MDF has no structural strength, whereas ply does. The only advantage MDF would have over ply for boxes is that it's easy to finish.
MDF is superior over plywood for bracing however since it is already compressed to the point where it cannot be compressed on its edges any more. So using MDF for braces will ensure next-to-no wall flexing at all.

I pay double for ply which is why I build test boxes out of MDF. but the finished product is ply.

Actually plywood is cheaper because it is made of left over material. It also has more flaws on it than MDF.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

its not particle board....its Medium Density fiberboard which is much much denser and stiffer than plywood

Not really. Ply is denser, it's just that ply has hollow spots.

 

[Mike465 10+ year member]

Not really. Ply is denser, it's just that ply has hollow spots.

It is denser but it is made of low grade lumber

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Actually plywood is cheaper because it is made of left over material. It also has more flaws on it than MDF.

I think your are referring to the low quality rough Birch you see in lumber yards. I buy that from time to time as well because its well, cheap.

When I talk ply I refer to G1S Fir, Finishing Birch or Baltic. Of course, I wouldn't pass up on solid Oak if it was priced the same as G1S //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif

 

[kickerloud 10+ year member]

gotcha. thanks for the help guys

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

Plywood is normally more expensive than MDF. MDF has no structural strength, whereas ply does. The only advantage MDF would have over ply for boxes is that it's easy to finish.
MDF is superior over plywood for bracing however since it is already compressed to the point where it cannot be compressed on its edges any more. So using MDF for braces will ensure next-to-no wall flexing at all.

I pay double for ply which is why I build test boxes out of MDF. but the finished product is ply.

i guess in my post i was thinking of cheap grades of plywood...i love the weight and strength of baltic birch ply. I love the workability (routing edges) of MDF tho.