I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
leaning to a satin finish.
TIA
--
------------
MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores
and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
Hydrants and...
Sorry....3/4 knotty pine ply with 1/2 mdf backing it........total 1 1/4
thick....or would 1/2 ply as a backing be better?
"George E. Cawthon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Lobsang Mack <lobsang-mack<at> rogers wrote:
>> I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will
>> be 3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>> finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>>
>> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
>> leaning to a satin finish.
>>
>> TIA
>
> If your knotty pine is Ponderosa pine, then you do realize it is soft,
> right? Also MDF won't give it much strength. Why not use plywood?
>
> To answer your question, use polyurethane, 3 coats.
Thanx for the ideas......
"Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
>3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>
> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
> leaning to a satin finish.
>
> TIA
> --
> ------------
> MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores
> and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
> Hydrants and...
>
>
>
>
I was planning on glue & screw.....any other suggestions?
"Russ Stanton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I would like to know how you are planning to fasten the pine to the MDF (or
>plywood)? The pine will "move" with humidity changes and the MDF will not
>seems as if this could cause a problem.
>
> Russ
> "Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
>>3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>>
>> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
>> leaning to a satin finish.
>>
>> TIA
>> --
>> ------------
>> MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores
>> and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
>> Hydrants and...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
1/2 plywood, mdf adds weight but not much strength
in my opinion. I've never seen knotty pine
plywood for sale in a lumber store, here we just
use the solid stuff.
I would rethink the use of knotty pine. I
wouldn't use knotty pine on any desk surface, it
is just too soft and you will have dings all over
it 6 months even if you are moderately careful.
Lobsang Mack <lobsang-mack<at> rogers wrote:
> Sorry....3/4 knotty pine ply with 1/2 mdf backing it........total 1 1/4
> thick....or would 1/2 ply as a backing be better?
>
> "George E. Cawthon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Lobsang Mack <lobsang-mack<at> rogers wrote:
>>
>>>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will
>>>be 3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>>>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>>>
>>>I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
>>>leaning to a satin finish.
>>>
>>>TIA
>>
>>If your knotty pine is Ponderosa pine, then you do realize it is soft,
>>right? Also MDF won't give it much strength. Why not use plywood?
>>
>>To answer your question, use polyurethane, 3 coats.
>
>
>
I would like to know how you are planning to fasten the pine to the MDF (or
plywood)? The pine will "move" with humidity changes and the MDF will not
seems as if this could cause a problem.
Russ
"Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
>3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>
> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
> leaning to a satin finish.
>
> TIA
> --
> ------------
> MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores
> and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
> Hydrants and...
>
>
>
>
I would like to know how you plan to fasten the pine to the MDF (or
plywood)? Seems like the pine will "move" with humidity changes and the MDF
will not.
Russ
"Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
>3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>
> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
> leaning to a satin finish.
>
> TIA
> --
> ------------
> MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores
> and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire
> Hydrants and...
>
>
>
>
Maybe I did not understand what you are planning. My question assumed you
were going to use 3/4 by 4 or 5 inch wide pine boards over MDF. If that is
the case the pine will expand or contract in width while the MDF will not.
If you glue and screw the boards down they may cup.
Russ
"Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I was planning on glue & screw.....any other suggestions?
>
> "Russ Stanton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>I would like to know how you are planning to fasten the pine to the MDF
>>(or plywood)? The pine will "move" with humidity changes and the MDF will
>>not seems as if this could cause a problem.
>>
>> Russ
>> "Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will
>>>be 3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>>>finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>>>
>>> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
>>> leaning to a satin finish.
>>>
>>> TIA
>>> --
>>> ------------
>>> MANIC: Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and
>>> Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and
>>> Fire Hydrants and...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
"Lobsang Mack rogers com>" <lobsang-mack<atdot> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sorry....3/4 knotty pine ply with 1/2 mdf backing it........total 1 1/4
> thick....or would 1/2 ply as a backing be better?
>
> "George E. Cawthon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Lobsang Mack <lobsang-mack<at> rogers wrote:
>>> I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will
>>> be 3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
>>> finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>>>
>>> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
>>> leaning to a satin finish.
>>>
>>> TIA
>>
>> If your knotty pine is Ponderosa pine, then you do realize it is soft,
>> right? Also MDF won't give it much strength. Why not use plywood?
>>
>> To answer your question, use polyurethane, 3 coats.
Here's a little project I did in Ponderosa Pine. I coat of Watco, natural.
3 coats of polyurethane, satin finish.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/album?.dir=45b2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.sbc.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
Max
In article <[email protected]>, "Lobsang Mack"
<lobsang-mack<at> rogers <dot> com> says...
>
> I was planning on glue & screw.....any other suggestions?
>
I don't think I'd be comfortable with a lamination of 1 mdf and 1 ply either;
if you want to do that combo you'd be better off using a sandwich of 1/8" ply,
3/4"- 1" MDF and another 1/8" ply. Take a bit of clamping though. In fact you'd
probably be better off buying veneered MDF in that case. (that's what I use for
the panels in frame-and-panel these days).
Alternatively if you go with 3/4" ply as you proposed(?), you won't need much
extra support at all while the desk is up to 2'6" wide; otherwise I'd suggest
gluing small strips of solid wood underneath that tie into the carcass of the
desk.
A single layer of ply with a single layer of MDF is bound to end up looking
like the Sydney Harbour bridge eventually.
-P.
--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com
In article <[email protected]>, GeorgeC-
[email protected] says...
>
> I would rethink the use of knotty pine. I
> wouldn't use knotty pine on any desk surface, it
> is just too soft and you will have dings all over
> it 6 months even if you are moderately careful.
>
I don't know what species your 'knotty pine' is, I'm in a different part of the
world :-) some of the plantation pinus radiata that we get here in New Zealand
can be so hard you can't get a 4" nail into it -- if it's well milled and
seasoned. Much of it is as soft as warm butter, though. I can tell by the
weight and the looks.
-P.
--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com
Lobsang Mack <lobsang-mack<at> rogers wrote:
> I am in the process of building a new computer work center.the top will be
> 3/4 knotty pine with 1/2 MDF backing for strength. The edges will be
> finished with pine moulding and the legs will be 2x2 pine.
>
> I am interested in ideas for the finish. I want something durable and am
> leaning to a satin finish.
>
> TIA
If your knotty pine is Ponderosa pine, then you do
realize it is soft, right? Also MDF won't give it
much strength. Why not use plywood?
To answer your question, use polyurethane, 3 coats.