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M.D.F. for Furniture

M.D.F. (medium density fiberboard) is wood product that most used to make panel in the woodworking industry. It is made from wood chips, shavings, sawdust that is cooked in a steam digester. Then, with a high pressure the furnish refiners is entered a two disc machine, passed between them where the wood fibers shear into its spin. The fiber then dried, coated with a resin and was flowed to form a thick sheet of mat. Sheets are then pressed with high pressure and high temperature makes the resin dry and cured. The dry mats are then cooled to form a flat as a board with the length and thickness that can be set according to the need.
The M.D.F. are much used as panels for furniture industry to replace the solid wood panel. The wide and long panels such as top panel, top table, side panels, or a board majority has been made of M.D.F. The veneer technology has been widely used to replace the solid wood for paneling. The major indoor furniture products are made of veneer for the panels and big surfaces and less uses of solid wood components. The solid wood is used mostly to form the  small parts such as legs, or framework, where the veneer cannot be used.  Most of the veneers are attached on a M.D.F, making it becomes increasingly more important in the furniture industry.
The M.D.F. is available in various sizes of thickness, length and width. According with the commercial board standard the thickness of M.D.F. is usually available in sizes ranging from ¾ in up to 4 in, with a width of 4 ft and 24 ft long. Other sizes of thickness and length can actually be made but of course must be special ordered.
In the woodworking industry, the M.D F. also can be cut and laminated to make the desired shapes. For the purposes of industrial woodworking the M.D.F. with density about 44-45 lbs is mostly used, although the lower and higher density can also be produced. The resin used to coat the surface of M.D.F. is usually urea formaldehyde that will emit formaldehyde gas.  According with environmental issues, the M.D.F. is also available in different quality levels depending on the emissions of its formaldehyde gas. The highest grade is the grade of the most environmentally friendly with less formaldehyde emissions, while the lowest grade is the most unfriendly environment with the more formaldehyde gas emissions.
It all proof M.D.F. a material that is very important today, the use of M.D.F. already widespread in the woodworking industry replacing wooden boards. Compared with the wood boards the sheet of M.D.F. has several advantages that make it preferable in the woodworking industries. M.D.F. is a homogeneous sheet with a flat and smooth surface. The waving or uneven surfaces, due to the non-uniform contraction of the wood and the problem caused by the wood grain and pores will not be found on M.D.F. Therefore, the M.D.F is easier uses to produce a level surface. M.D.F. is also relatively easy to be cut in a desired shape; a board with certain profiles can be made easily with M.D.F.as the solid wood. It also can be overlaid with wood veneer, vinyl films, and decorative plastic or special paper to produce the panel in accordance with needs.

Finishing for M.D.F.

The M.D.F. with wood veneer can be treated like a solid wood during the process of finishing. The properties of the attached veneer; the veneer wood color, pores, grain, fibers and texture are the properties need to be considered when selecting an appropriate finishing.
M.D..F is also often finished without a layer of veneer. M.D.F. has a smooth flat surface and can provide some advantages in the finishing process but of course could not replace the wood appearances as veneer or solid wood. It doesn’t have has particularly a wood grain and pores and sometimes has vary base color make the solid color is the only option for him. A flat and clean solid colors or solid colors with various finishing effects model can be applied on the MD F. The flat surface without any pores or grains make it can produce a flat surface finish without the need filler like in the wood or wood veneer. The good resin layer on the surface will be able to produce a smooth surface make an application of base coat on the surface can make the flat surface faster. But sometimes a layer of resin on the surface of M.D.F. is also not too good so the surface will absorb relatively lot of finishing materials. For finishing with the NC, a M.D.F surface can consumed lot of clear coating. A layer of catalyzed coating materials such as PU or Acid Curing should be used as the first layer to produce a flat and smooth surface more quickly.
Whereas an open surface of the M.D.F. as the end cut will absorb much more finishing material since it has a very high absorption. It also has lot of fiber that will make rough surface. The open M.D. F. will need lot more clear coating material to make an even and smooth surface. Some manufacturers of finishing material have even created a special material with a very high solid material that is designed to cover the surface of this end cut M.D.F.

4 comments for "M.D.F. for Furniture"

  1. Thanks for sharing the interesting piece of information, your post is simple yet smart. I have gone through all your posts and got a lot of experience.


    MDF Furniture | Veneered MDF

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    1. Thanks you for visiting and commenting in this web blog.

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  2. Well, which type of varnish can I use as mdf coating without spending much money?

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    1. You cannot apply varnish for mdf. The only finishing for mdf are the paint finish. The pu, ac or uv finish is the good choice since they will easily cover up the mdf surface and produce the smooth and even finish. Nc base coat is also can be used but it will consume lot of paint to get the smooth finish.

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