Pros and Cons of Converting....

[FULL TIMER]

My bad yes it's 15mm. I used the plastic knock in edgings on the framed up conversion on a few fittings, tables mainly. I cannot remember (21 years ago) how I made them up to the 15mm thickness, have to have a look manana!
The good feature of MDF is of course it's stability, not likely to get a bowing cupping the shakes and all the rest. Last time I used Vohringer a single 15mm double sided laminate 8x4 sheet €120. There was a photo finish el cheapo on poplar available at the time I think that went for 'only' €80!

The price doesn't seem to have changed much I can get it from one of our suppliers at around £100 a sheet, trouble is minimum orders and delivery costs on top of that otherwise I would use it a lot more, At the moment I'm stuck doing refurbs on St.John ambulance vehicles and guess what most of the interior kit is made of yes those bloody crappy kitchen units and 28mm worktops. I'll be glad to get back on some proper conversion work.

 

[n brown]

i make my units with a front frame made from about 35x15mm batten, then all the sides and shelves from 6mm ply,framed in 15x15mm batten. worktops out of pine boards ,got from B&Q, or made up, or bathroom/kitchen splashbacks, 9 or 10mm, either timber edged or packed out to take 12mm 'T' trim
many different ways of making doors, those in the present van are 9mm birch ply with a glued on frame shaker style, very simple to make . the units get glued all round to the walls floor and ceiling and never had a problem with movement. having had to rip the cupboards out of the last van, i can testify to the strength of construction- but extremely lightweight
vohringer board is a really good material for people with little woodwork skills to make a decent job of an interior , or for someone in a hurry- definitely got its uses.

 

[Byronic]

The price doesn't seem to have changed much I can get it from one of our suppliers at around £100 a sheet, trouble is minimum orders and delivery costs on top of that otherwise I would use it a lot more, At the moment I'm stuck doing refurbs on St.John ambulance vehicles and guess what most of the interior kit is made of yes those bloody crappy kitchen units and 28mm worktops. I'll be glad to get back on some proper conversion work.

I think the price hasn't changed because they allowed for 25 years of inflation in 1995!
I realised how I made up the 15mm so as I could use the knock in 15mm plasttic trim ie 4 thicknesses of the 3.75mm ash ply. The ash ply cost £18 an 8 x 4 sheet cheap enough to be used for any purpose.
The only downsides of a framed/panel conversion are that the insides of cupboards wardrobe etc. show exposed framing and the method is labour intensive. Solid panels of course give a clean smooth interior finish. The framed construction was probably half the weight of the Vohringer option.

 

[Steve121]

not sure what size you want, but ambulances with box bodies are well insulated and maintained,have heating,windows,doors and skylights .

Another bonus is the interior shape - flat surfaces and square corners. Not all have skylights, though. Some (like mine) are 4 wheel drive.