Can you use mdf??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I was thinking the same thing about using mdf i have friends that do custom audio and they get it wholesale and its 3/4" sheets. I want to make a few panels with different sealers on them. Idk if you have seen strait fiber glass resin on that kind of mdf but it gets hard as a rock but it is true that if any water gets in its gone but i want to run some tests and find out how it works.
 
MDF is a great building material, but it definitely has drawbacks.

Pros:
Smooth surface
Smooth cuts
Cheap
Easy to work with once you get the hang of it.

Cons
-Edge-screwing tends to split it unless you pilot drill every hole
-Will soak up water, so you'll probably eat the cost savings by applying additional waterproofing to the outsides of the tank, as well as every edge.
-MDF is VERY heavy. I'd wager 2x to 3x as heavy as plywood... a tank of any size will be a b!tch to move no matter what, so making it heavier than you have to is usually a bad thing.

I think the cons outweigh the pros in this application, but I wouldn't go so far as to say "you can't use it".
 
Still exploring and researching tank builds. I'm still planning on building the big one when I stumbled up on this post.

I'm curious on the MDF part. I see where people use regular ply, coat the insides with several coats of 2 part epoxy and fiberglass. And some have even gel coated the outside (major good idea IMO).

So...with all this protection....why can't these same principles be applied to an MDF application? If MDF is more sound than ply with the draw back being the weight of it and drilling pilot holes (which is recommended for any corner joins anyway)....why not? After all....how many times is a monster tank going to get moved after it's in place anyway?

< raises shields and ducks for cover...please use a wiffle ball bat because regular bats hurt. :) >
 
The problem isn't only the weight or that it's less forgiving with edge screwing... the main problem is that if you get a small little pin hole the whole sheet is going to be messed up as once water hits MDF It's like cancer... it's bubbles, expands and falls apart... Plywood on the other hand will allow for some time to catch the problem and you can usually get it fixed before TO MUCH damage happens... not to mention that anyone who has worked with MDF Will tell you that sealing the edges is like trying to seal a sponge... is just soaks up anything you use and it takes a bunch of extra to get the edges looking sealed (Talking about Fiberglass resins and paints since I've never used anything else on MDF)

I was in Car Audio for 20 years before I moved to Quebec and beleive that MDF is one of the best things going for being the most cost effective material which gives the least flex and it can handle enormous amounts of abuse...but I have also seen cars come in with leaks in the trunks that did huge amounts of damage to boxes that were "fiberglassed" over... Water is the one thing that it doesn't matter how much you try... water will find a way... I don't even use MDF on the shelves in my Fish room because of how poorly it does with humidity and spills
 
Little story about MDF and water:

My uncle is a wooden boat builder (just finished a vintage paddle steamer project), he had a customer go away and attempt a keel repair by themselves after baulking at the cost he quoted, they decided to use MDF and about $1000 (that's our Aussie Monopoly money ;)) worth of epoxy.

Needless to say it didn't work, and they brought it back to him where he charged twice as much as originally quoted, having to clean up all the additional mess they'd made of it.

Moral: MDF and water don't mix (much like pig and elephant DNA :)).
 
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