On 29-Jul-2004, Pat Barber wrote:

I suspect the angle
would do just as well as a steel plate.

If you don't care about the weight, that's true. However, if
you want to keep the weight down, almost any other combination
will do better than a steel plate.

A hardwood frame under the MDF will stiffen the MDF just as
well as steel but with less weight. Pound for pound, if you
get carried away and make hardwood-framed, MDF-skinned torsion
box, it will be way stiffer than a steel plate or steel angle
backed MDF sheet.

It ain't the material, it's how you use it.

Mike