What's with all the MDF?

[ACC]

I know it's cheap, I know it's solid, but for THE LOVE OF GOD STOP USING IT without wearing respirators. The resin used to bind it is f&#king toxic....(Have you seen how much dust this sh!t produces?)

I was just watching a video on youtube from zakscott, granted an old video. Making a mini cab. But the guy in the video ("Simon"?) had his 7 year old kid holding the mdf while he was cutting it with a jigsaw and joking about "child labour".

Yeah funny guy, I hope your child sticks a sawnoff up your ass and pulls the trigger later on in life when he develops problems due to breathing in too much MDF resin as a child.

Sorry for all the swearing but it's f&$kin needed.

[Mcrawler]

Nice rant.

You should be cutting it all in a well ventilated area though, but i dont think respirators are really necessary (basic dusk mask yes though) alot of tradies dont use them and they cut the shit everyday.

[elvis]

I know a cabinet maker with emphysema thanks to a life of being in and around MDF and Ply sawdust.

Googles and mask/respirator are a must for me (for cutting/sanding MDF, as well as any spray painting). Safety first, kids.

[ACC]

Decent Marine ply and melamine isn't anywhere near as bad, use it as an alternative.

[elvis]

Marine ply is expensive, and easy to chip when routing or slot-cutting edges. Melamine isn't as workable for arcade cabinets (a lot of strength is needed to hold heavy CRTs for long periods of time).

Yes, MDF sucks. But other products suck in other ways. And no matter what the product, anything that uses glues or treatment in the making of them should still be treated with caution. I see just as many tradies without mask and goggles cutting treated pine, which is often packed full of arsenic. You can get arsenic-free treated timbers of course, but again the price goes up, effectiveness goes down, and you still need a mask and goggles anyway.

[ideas_man69]

haha i remember back in late the late 90's - i had woodwork class in high school. everyone would be cutting up MDF in class, dust was everywhere and it wasn't ever considered a problem.

the following year, we were told to use pine and that if anyone wanted to cut MDF, they'd have to wear a mask while everyone else left the room.

we were thinking... "i wonder why MDF is dangerous this year?"

[elvis]

High school woodworking class shouldn't be using MDF anyway. It only teaches bad habits, and doesn't prepare anyone for a career in any form of wood work.

[3stars]

Originally Posted by Mcrawler

Nice rant.

You should be cutting it all in a well ventilated area though, but i dont think respirators are really necessary (basic dusk mask yes though) alot of tradies dont use them and they cut the shit everyday.

yep i use tradies as my bench mark of intelligence too.


pro tip: don't run with sissors

[ACC]

Originally Posted by 3stars

yep i use tradies as my bench mark of intelligence too.


pro tip: don't run with sissors

I lol'ed IRL

[Opti]

Originally Posted by 3stars

pro tip: don't run with sissors

Speaking form experience Simon? My pro tip. Don't run at all. It just makes you exhausted and there a good chance you will spill your beer. Or drop your kid...

[3stars]

Originally Posted by Opti

Speaking form experience Simon? My pro tip. Don't run at all. It just makes you exhausted and there a good chance you will spill your beer. Or drop your kid...

shut up and do some work ya lazy bugger

[elvis]

Originally Posted by Opti

Speaking form experience Simon? My pro tip. Don't run at all. It just makes you exhausted and there a good chance you will spill your beer. Or drop your kid...

I subscribe to the theory that running was invented to escape Sabre Toothed Tigers.

Given that there are no longer Sabre Toothed Tigers around, I see no need for running.