# Cabinet building materials



## oldwhitewood (21 May 2009)

Hey guys, I'm getting a bit bored of my cabinet and wanted to build another one with a better finish. I was looking at getting a kitchen cupboard type unit and trying to strengthen that on the inside. 

The other option is to get some conti board or similar which already has a finish on it, I am not sure if you can get it cut to a specific size and then get it edged so you don't see the chipboard part, has anyone got any experience of this?

The third option would be to build it out of oak or something which I could do but it would be pretty expensive I reckon, unless I get oak-face ply which is plywood with an oak veneer, it's a bit cheaper that stuff I think.

Any advice would be spiffing.


----------



## LondonDragon (21 May 2009)

Have a look here:

http://www.projectaquarium.com/plantedA ... Stand.aspx

Best one I have seen.


----------



## Steve Smith (21 May 2009)

You beat me too it LD   That's the first website that came to my mind too.


----------



## oldwhitewood (21 May 2009)

It's a great job there he did, doing that formica thing though I reckon I would screw that up! Hmmm, looks perfect though.


----------



## LondonDragon (21 May 2009)

oldwhitewood said:
			
		

> It's a great job there he did, doing that formica thing though I reckon I would screw that up! Hmmm, looks perfect though.


You can always sand it properly and then paint it rather than using formica.


----------



## oldwhitewood (21 May 2009)

I did that with the one I have at the moment, the problem is I'm not happy with the finish.






Thats it there, old picture but you get the idea.


----------



## Mark Evans (21 May 2009)

tank looks frickin awesome. your tank is still the closet on here that i've seen which resembles an ADA tank


----------



## oldwhitewood (21 May 2009)

Cheers dude, it don't look like this anymore though as that was taken in my old house. Not updated the old journal in a while I had better do that as the tank now looks nothing like it did in my last journal entry.


----------



## JamesM (21 May 2009)

Instead of starting fresh, why not sand back your existing cabinet and spray paint it with some decent car paint, followed by a good few coats of clear? You'll be surprised how good the finish can look...


----------



## samc (21 May 2009)

i was going to use formica on mine until i saw the price which was 50 odd quid and more for delivery


----------



## oldwhitewood (21 May 2009)

JamesM said:
			
		

> Instead of starting fresh, why not sand back your existing cabinet and spray paint it with some decent car paint, followed by a good few coats of clear? You'll be surprised how good the finish can look...



It's not a bad option, having refinished an electric guitar body a few years ago I'm not a bad sprayer. But the actual build of the cabinet aint that great. I think I need to make it out of some decent wood, something I can sand down.


----------



## JamesM (22 May 2009)

oldwhitewood said:
			
		

> JamesM said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


MDF is perfect for this. Prime is good beforehand though


----------



## oldwhitewood (1 Jun 2009)

I am wondering if I can use spray paint on MDF? My cabinet at the moment I made out of MDF and used paint and roller to get a kinda finish on it. It looks OK but I've decided I want the same thing in white. Without having to paint my existing cabinet I want to do a new one I reckon. 

But I have seen you can get conti board and use that iron on strip thing to finish the edges. Has anyone used this?


----------



## JamesM (1 Jun 2009)

oldwhitewood said:
			
		

> I am wondering if I can use spray paint on MDF? My cabinet at the moment I made out of MDF and used paint and roller to get a kinda finish on it. It looks OK but I've decided I want the same thing in white. Without having to paint my existing cabinet I want to do a new one I reckon.
> 
> But I have seen you can get conti board and use that iron on strip thing to finish the edges. Has anyone used this?



http://projectcube2007.blogspot.com/

Of course you can spray paint mdf - the result is the same as if it were metal. The trick is to sand like hell first, then use a good primer, sand and prime again if need be - eliminate all high or low spots. Thin layers of paint, with ample drying time in between, and wet sand if you get an orange peel type texture. Finish with several coats of clear and a wet sand to get a pro finish.


----------

