I’m going to be making a large bookcase in rift-sawn white oak. Oak is heavy and I want to lighten it up as much as I can by using veneered sheet product for the largest components,
which will be up to 1″ thick. Sooo ….
– Is there such a product as rift oak veneer on LDF composite sheets? on MDF?
– Could I glue, say, 1/8″ or 1/4″ rift oak veneer plywood on LDF composite? on MDF?
What’s best, and hopefully, lightest.
Replies
It might be overkill for your application, but end-grain balsa is easy to work with and would be super light. I say overkill because it has some characteristics like conformability that you don’t really need. It’s used like a foam core in composite construction to add stiffness with minimal weight. Can be bought in sheets with a mesh scrim on one side to keep it together. I guess you could laminate 1/4” plywood on either side, but if you are willing/able to use 1/8” veneer on both sides it would be very light indeed. One drawback—you would probably have to use the panel at full thickness, meaning no rabbetting the edges to match grooves.
I doubt that veneered mdf will be any lighter than solid oak. If I really needed to lighted a piece I would start at the design stage. There are ways to make furniture look heavier than it is, if that's your aim.
MDF is quite heavy. By thickness heavier than natural oak. LDF is, I am assuming, fiberboard. I once ordered some 1/4" cherry veneer plywood and when I received it it was on fiber board which seemed to me to be nothing more than cardboard. I was displeased. White oak is quite popular these days. I dont do much of anything anymore with sheet stock but I would think that you should be able to buy white oak veneered plywood. I have found that Mt. Storm plywood products to be of very good quality. I'm not seeing good quality plywood at current prices being much of a saving price wise over natural wood.
MDF (and plywood) also deflect more than solid wood when used for horizontal shelving. Heavy book loads may limit your spans if you go with these materials.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled