MDF ?, also stupid ? of the day

[Keye]

Can you plane MDF. The reason I ask is because my UNI has an MDF extension for my 52" UNI fence. It is tired and worn. I thought if I could plane it I could laminate the top. Need to plane it so the laminate is the same height as the wings.

No, I do not and have not ever had a piece of MDF in my shop. This is why I did not just go and run a piece through the planner. Probably could have gone to HD and found a piece of scrap but I would rather ask a dumb question:eusa_danc:eusa_danc.

Ooh, I seem to remember it takes a different blade to cut MDF. Seem to remember someone saying that MDF would dull a regular blade. The guy I know who has a large enough planner may not be willing to run it through his planner. ?????

I guess I could make something really nice as an extension. Some folks love to do neat retrofits to their equipment, I do not. I hate working on my equipment. I want to use it to make stuff:gar-La;.

 

[DaveO]

There is an awful lot of glue holding the sawdust together in MDF. That fact alone will tend to dull blades faster than solid wood. You can plane MDF, but the results won't be very pretty. MDF has a surface treatment that results in a different texture than the inside. But seeing as you are going to put a laminate over the top, that would replace the original MDF "skin" that won't matter.
Have you checked to see if there is any adjustment room in the table board that would allow you to drop it down? If you could do that, then you could just laminate over the top.

Another thought would be to replace the current table board with one of Melamine. The thicknesses should be the same, and the Melamine is slick as Gorilla snot and holds up well in a shop.

Dave

 

[Keye]

There is an awful lot of glue holding the sawdust together in MDF. That fact alone will tend to dull blades faster than solid wood. You can plane MDF, but the results won't be very pretty. MDF has a surface treatment that results in a different texture than the inside. But seeing as you are going to put a laminate over the top, that would replace the original MDF "skin" that won't matter.
Have you checked to see if there is any adjustment room in the table board that would allow you to drop it down? If you could do that, then you could just laminate over the top.

Another thought would be to replace the current table board with one of Melamine. The thicknesses should be the same, and the Melamine is slick as Gorilla snot and holds up well in a shop.

Dave

And all this time I thought I was the only one that knows how slick gorilla snot is:rotflm:.

Good sugestion. I have some ash and was actually thinking about using it. I think it would look kind of neat.

 

[JohnW]

Keye,

I made a batch of zero clearance inserts out of MDF and had to plane it down to just the perfect height. Taking thin cuts it planed very well. I sealed each side with a finish (can't remember if it was poly or gorilla snot)

There are some advantages in using MDF for saw inserts that, for me, outweighed the fact that it's supposed to dull blades faster.

 

[DavidF]

I guess it would run through a drum sander ok with sufficient dust extraction. BTW - I love MDF! it's my first go to material for jigs or veneering my shop has a lot of the stuff around the place:embaresse