MDF as case material... any things I should keep in mind?

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Elledan

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2010
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Within 1-2 months time I'm planning to start on a case-from-scratch project for which I'm doing the 3D modelling, planning and funds gathering right now. I was thinking of using MDF as the main case material.

Does anyone here have any good tips and/or references on handling MDF and turning it into pretty cases? I've seen some useful things in the work logs on this forum already, so I could probably figure something out myself... but I'd like to hear from those in the trenches first :)

Also, where do you find the funds/sponsors for such a project? :p

Thanks ^_^
 
mashie said:
MDF is fun, just bear in mind it can get really heavy. Also, seal all the cut edges before painting.
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Damn thats sexy
drooling.gif
I've never given it much thought about making a case out of MDF or any wood for that matter and have always wanted to make my own case from scratch. The involved metal work, namely machining parts, has always kept me from doing this, but man after seeing how "metallic" and nice a wood case can come out, im sold. Awesome case and colors man. Im pretty excited about doing this as well :D


Sorry Ell, didn't mean to get off topic here man, just had to say something about his work.
 
MDF is a really good product to work with. Easy to machine and work with and cheap. Here is a worklog from a MDF machine on hardforum.com

Advantages:

1. Very stiff
2. Absorbs Vibrations
3. Smooth surfaces on each side, very little prep needed to get a good paint job on finished sides.
4. cheap compaired to regular plywood

But it does have some downsides:

1. But very brittle. do not try to bend it very much or it will just break.
2. While cutting the dust is very fine and gets all over the place floating thru the air. Cut outside the house if you can.
3. Like Mashie said seal the cut edges before painting. They will absorb liquid and expand or look very bad. A good sealing material is 1 part water to 1 part white elmers glue. works great and is easy to sand to get a smooth finish. I have sealed the entire surface of MDF before I paint and it looks like you were painting metal or platic that way.
4. Don't drop your case on your foot, or on anything see #1 above. MDF is heavy compared to other wood materials. 50-70 pounds per cubic foot. example: 4x8 sheet of half inch MDF is 66-94 pounds. :O
5. Don't put screws into raw MDF it has no grain to grab the screw and it can pull out much easier then normal wood. If you have to put a screw into it, put some glue onto the screw first. This will bind the MDF particals together and keep the screw from pulling out so easily.
 
It's okay, nemesis27, saves me the trouble of gawking over mashie's work :D

I'm glad that this case I'm working on is intended to be practical rather than pretty, else I'd feel kind of scared right now :p Good tips, though especially about the sealing before painting. I'll have to see what they've got for that purpose here where I live (Netherlands :) )

I have some experience with MDF already, albeit mostly for shelves and other assorted furniture, so I know how screws don't mix well with raw MDF. The glue trick sounds like it may solve that problem :) And yes, MDF is bloody heavy.

The Ice Cubic project is indeed one I've been following religiously ever since it started. It's amazing how it ended up looking as shiny as a Mac Cube. Anyway...

*off to read Mashie's site* :D
 
MDF sucks to finish, and will eat an incorrect sawblade like Rosie O'Donnel eating a BIg Mac. The dust is quite harmful if inhaled, so wear a mask. As for the weight, you can get ultralight MDF (called Trupan) for roughly the same price as regular.
May I suggest using Baltic Birch if you plan on a stained finish or if weight is an issue? Otherwise, have fun, and buy up plenty of TiteBond.
 
I'll look around a bit for other cheap types of wood, yeah :)

When I mentioned using MDF for a PC case to my housemate (a senior engineer at a major telecom chips manufacturer), he seemed shocked that I'd ever consider the idea, though. Something about MDF being really static-prone and thus an ESD risk...
 
Wear a mask when your sanding it, or cutting it in any way for that matter, I've heard from the chippies at one of my old jobs that the chemicals in MDF are nasty.
 
Elledan said:
I'll look around a bit for other cheap types of wood, yeah :)

When I mentioned using MDF for a PC case to my housemate (a senior engineer at a major telecom chips manufacturer), he seemed shocked that I'd ever consider the idea, though. Something about MDF being really static-prone and thus an ESD risk...
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Thats interesting, I cant imagine it being but hey im no specialist. I tried a Google search but came up empty handed on that. maybe you have better Google skills or maybe call a MDF manufacturer and see what they say. If you find out before me, let us know so I know where to go from there as well :)
 
I can't imagine MDF being static prone unless you have fine dust coming off of it somehow which could rub together, but if it was sealed/painted I can't see that ever coming up. You do have the issue that without metal you aren't really grounding everything but if the PC is plugged in it should be grounded through the power supply, certainly less risky then acrylic/poly and plenty of people use that just fine.

Their has been some good input in this thread so far, I would only add that MDF is very is to route and also is very flat/"Planed".

The big thing to think of that most people don't think of is that MDF is popular for speaker boxes and while it does a good job of dampening sound you have to be careful not to accidentaly build a case that acts as a speaker box and amplifies the sound coming out of your case.
 
Note that regarding EM radiation or susceptibility, using MDF is pretty much like having an open case.
If you have anything sensitive to the radiation from your PC or if your PC is susceptible to radiation from other devices, you will benefit from a case that can block radiation more effectively.
Just a FYI :)
 
As far as EM shielding goes, or lack of it. Has anyone here run an Acrylic case? I have seen many and have never seen any issues with any device around the computer or in the computer. If you are worried about it for your MDF case, you could always cover the inside with aluminum foil. That would give you plenty of EM shielding.
 
omgawdz, liek the cosmic rays are pwning my processor.

Not really. I've never had a problem with the MDF case I built, or the acrylic cases I've ran. It's a non-issue IMO. Everyone blows the smallest things out of proportion, especially on [H]ard|Forum.
 
Good point about the sealing/painting. That should indeed prevent any kind of static build-up.

I posted a topic about EM shielding in the Electronics forum, IIRC. There's some useful info in there too :) Basically it's a non-issue unless there's a significant EM source nearby. Running an unshielded (open) PSU is still a big no-no, though :D
 
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