wood finish on units

[daisymini]

Do you have to use ply for the units ie kitchen etc? I cant afford the really nice lightweight furniture board so i was thinking of making all the units out of ply and then facing them with the 3mm veneered furniture board. Would this be impractical? Also can you use mdf or would this be too heavy.
Im trying to get a nice finish to the woodwork and ply doesnt really do it for me... Any other suggestions?

 

[Bigpeetee]

Do you have to use ply for the units ie kitchen etc? I cant afford the really nice lightweight furniture board so i was thinking of making all the units out of ply and then facing them with the 3mm veneered furniture board. Would this be impractical? Also can you use mdf or would this be too heavy.
Im trying to get a nice finish to the woodwork and ply doesnt really do it for me... Any other suggestions?

Have you tried caravan breakers? They've usually got loads of useful pieces!!

 

[ellisboy]

Yes you could use 12mm ply and glue 3mm decorative ply to it.Then router out a grove and us 15mm knock in edging.MDF is too heavy really and soaks up moisture.

 

[n brown]

are you thinking of using the knock in edging? it'll need some sort of frame to cover the join.can you remember the colour of thr external woodwork on that caravan thing?thats 2 coats of waterbased stain/varnish,also your top cupboard doors need to stay the same thickness as they are now because of the hinges.

 

[Firefox]

I wouldn't use MDF except sparingly for making major partitions. Otherwise you can make units out of ordinary 6mm and 9mm ply. It can be sanded, varnished, or painted. Or you could stick on a decorative veneer or even thin caravan carpet on like some builders do.

 

[landydriver]

.

 

[maingate]

If you need to buy anything in, I was told last weekend that Magnum at Grimsby is the best place to go for price and to pick material yourself. I was told that O'leary are not as good nowadays.

 

[mark61]

Have you had a look at Birch ply?

These people do some interesting stuff as well.

http://www.advancedtechnicalpanels.co.uk/products

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I treat all bare wood with a mineral oil - got mine from Ikea, but guess you can get it elsewhere.

Rub generously all over the wood and leave it to soak in. Doesn't need polishing and preserves and protects the wood a treat.
Did the old table in our campervan with it after giving it a good wash beforehand. Came up like new.

 

[n brown]

I treat all bare wood with a mineral oil - got mine from Ikea, but guess you can get it elsewhere.

Rub generously all over the wood and leave it to soak in. Doesn't need polishing and preserves and protects the wood a treat.
Did the old table in our campervan with it after giving it a good wash beforehand. Came up like new.

hope you chuck or wash your cloths says the southern knowall,a lot of these oils are linseed based

got a feeling daisymini's doors are 15mm,too thin to make up as a frame,but if she likes panelled doors,then 6mm strips of pine can be fixed to painted birch ply .but the water based coloured varnishes from wickes are good.brush on and wipe off with a cloth get a pretty good finish

 

[mariesnowgoose]

hope you chuck or wash your cloths says the southern knowall,a lot of these oils are linseed based

This one doesn't appear to be. It's a very clean, clear oil and has virtually no smell. Leaves wood very clean and dry when oil has soaked in.
(says the northern i've-tried-it-and-it-works )

 

[n brown]

best check the ingredients says ska who's warning to his mate saved 2 e-types from certain death when the mate went back and threw his rags out of their garage onto the drive where they self -combusted that night

 

[AuldTam]

I use 6mm ply to build the kitchen units with light framing to hold them together and screw onto where needed...9mm ply for structural stuff like bed frames and toilet walls and 6mm for the doors, it's all sound and easily takes the weight of cans of soup, cutlery, pots and pans etc, etc... I think 15mm ply is overkill and will just add more weight...My first conversion was 18mm MDF (because it was free) but due to the weight it was all removed through time.

Birch Ply is best if you can afford it...you just add a few coats of varnish...job done and should last for years.

Keep an eye on your local Gumtree...it comes up now and again.

 

[FULL TIMER]

I built all my units using 12mm ply and finished with laminate/formica which is probably only a mm thick but hard with many differant finishes, but I do have the tools and the room needed to do it and of course the payload, I have built this one to last.Where weight is a factor we build most of our units using 6mm ply and 20mm x 20mm battens and again laminated. easily stong enough and obviously a lot lighter, the only MDF we use is 15 mm for the doors which are cut to size and a 15 x 10mm hardwood border glued on all around and then laminated both sides , the face edge is then routed with a bell type router ,stained , sealed and waxed.

 

[daisymini]

I built all my units using 12mm ply and finished with laminate/formica which is probably only a mm thick but hard with many differant finishes, but I do have the tools and the room needed to do it and of course the payload, I have built this one to last.Where weight is a factor we build most of our units using 6mm ply and 20mm x 20mm battens and again laminated. easily stong enough and obviously a lot lighter, the only MDF we use is 15 mm for the doors which are cut to size and a 15 x 10mm hardwood border glued on all around and then laminated both sides , the face edge is then routed with a bell type router ,stained , sealed and waxed.

I might be wrong but .. I like the look of the veneer finish, but ive been to my local outlet and for a solid board of finished veneer is about £75-80 so in my way of thinking use cheaper ply and face it with the same board of about £20. I like to re-cycle to a degree (as in pallets coz they are easy to find at the docks where i live) for all the frame work. Plus i guess i like to keep a little of where i belong with me....?:lol-053:

 

[yorkslass]

I might be wrong but .. I like the look of the veneer finish, but ive been to my local outlet and for a solid board of finished veneer is about £75-80 so in my way of thinking use cheaper ply and face it with the same board of about £20. I like to re-cycle to a degree (as in pallets coz they are easy to find at the docks where i live) for all the frame work. Plus i guess i like to keep a little of where i belong with me....?:lol-053:

when we coverted our vw we used ply to make the frames, got domestic kitchen doors to cover as much of the frame as we could then covered any bare bits with cord carpet.:wave: