I am building a small bench seat and intending to trim the front with 1/2” primed mdf.
I would really appreciate thoughts on if think this is the right way to get a flush finish? I was going to nail directly on rather than build a face frame using pocket holes etc, but unsure.
is primed mdf the best here for smooth finish to not see joins easily?
see photo (the top of seat I am going to get a piece of oak I think not the plywood in the photo)
any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Replies
MDF is a poor choice for anything that will take any kind of abuse, bumps, scratches, or be exposed to water or moisture.
If smoothness and hiding joints is your objective, I would consider a close-grained wood like maple or poplar, glued, sanded, nailed (if this is your preference to joinery / pocket screwed), and painted. It will wear gracefully and with a good paint job handle water and moisture without problem.
Many thanks. Would your choice be to build a frame (with pocket hole) or attach directly in pieces with nails or glue and fill the gaps?
George IMDF is a great product except in moisture prone/wet locations and even then there are someoptions. Not all MDF is created equal. The big box store stuff is not as hard wearing as that from other sources.
Many cabinet shops are going with MDF doors these days with good success - thats a high impact application
Are you planning to cap the 3/4" vertical panel dividers with 3/4" wide strips?
If so, pocket screwing could be problematic because you don't have much material to hold a screw without splitting the narrow strips. I would pre-drill and finish nail in this case.
If you are going to use a wider "face-frame" style of construction, then pocket holes would be fine, but given the slight variations in the 2x materials, I think you'll end up with a lot of gaps and be less happy than if you simply face-nailed the trim pieces on.