On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 22:46:23 GMT, John T. Howard
wrote:

I am about to build some cabinets for my shop and am leaning toward
using melamine or MDF. I have little experience with either of these
materials. They don't have to look like living room furniture, but I
would like for my shop to reflect my workmanship.

I am mostly wondering about joinery - screw AMD glue, right? Should
melamine be rabbited to provide for particle-to-particle glue joints?
Do I need to use special screws? Are these materials particularly
hard on saw blades and router bits? Do I need special blades and
bits?

I've never used melamine, but MDF works pretty well for shop cabinets.
I've got my lathe mounted to a cabinet built of 3/4" oak-veneered MDF,
and it's held up very well to a signifigant amount of shaking
(unbalanced blanks) and a couple of direct hits from materials coming
loose from the chuck. The big draw with the MDF was that it was so
heavy, and really soaks up minor vibration. I just used regular
Elmer's probond and dado joints, and it's not showing any signs of
going anywhere, even after several months of heavy use.

What are your experiences with these materials? Are there any web
sites where I can learn more about joinery?

If you do go the MDF route, make sure you have some sort of dust mask
handy. It machines really easily, but you don't get sawdust- you get
a fine powder that flies everywhere.

Any comments appreciated.

John