Medium-density fibreboard, in a boat ??

We use lots of MDF at work some come green some comes brown we even have the stuff that has better resin for the laser cutter to cut through but it all blows at the sight of water I personally wouldn't let it anywhere near a boat.

Dave
 
rogerball0 said:
I think you guys need to come into the 21st century there's alot of great products about if you look for them:

http://www.meditetricoya.com

Its waterproof MDF with a 50 year gaurantee, having used the stuff its as versatile as ordinary MDF and completely waterproof - the price isn't that bad either.

roger

www.agentlemansyacht.com
Click to expand...

I suspect most of the people who replied to this thread are aware of this but it's got nothing to do with the original post as that was most definitely not the this stuff.

Also note:

I have been developing a system that uses thin layers of closed cell foam with a single layer of cloth on each side then gluing them together after drilling small holes to ensure no air is trapped, then adding more layers to what will be the outside and finishing by applying a gelcoat to layer of glass and covering a thin clear plastic sheet. then placing it in a press and testing to destruction.

The results are very encouraging, super strong, very good insulation properties, easy to cut to shape or install fixtures, also surprisingly light.


God luck and fair winds. :)
 
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oldsaltoz said:
I suspect most of the people who replied to this thread are aware of this but it's got nothing to do with the original post as that was most definitely not the this stuff.

Also note:

I have been developing a system that uses thin layers of closed cell foam with a single layer of cloth on each side then gluing them together after drilling small holes to ensure no air is trapped, then adding more layers to what will be the outside and finishing by applying a gelcoat to layer of glass and covering a thin clear plastic sheet. then placing it in a press and testing to destruction.

The results are very encouraging, super strong, very good insulation properties, easy to cut to shape or install fixtures, also surprisingly light.


God luck and fair winds. :)
Click to expand...

That sounds very interesting.Do you have pictures?
 
Daydream believer said:
Well nobody told me. When i had my joinery business i used to buy lorry loads of the damned stuff.i hated it
HSE advised me that there was no problem with it & the dust produced was non hazardous. Which is good because my workshop often got covered in the dust if an extractor fan or bag burst
The biggest problem with its use on a boat would be its weight followed by its total failure at the sight of water
However, there are moisture resistent ( note note dunk in the drink resistent) & exterior grades
I never used much exterior grade but seem to recall it had a greasy surface making laminating difficult
Click to expand...

You have got to be joking, right!

I gave up working on the tools in 1998, most of the companies I contracted to in N Wales didn't allow MDF in the machine shop due its carcinogenic properties, and the ammount of dust it produced. I refused to work with it in any format as did many other joiners I knew at the time. It is treated as a hazardous material in the USA. Have you ever seen the results when you run it through a bench saw or a spindle molder?

As for putting on a boat, just has to be recipe for disaster, it burns well (giving off toxic gasses which can kill), as already mentioned absorbs water. Has to be an accountants choice of material not a Navel Architects!
 
Fair play, it didn't really answer a question but was more a reply to all the clucking hens above concerning using such a material in a marine environment.

Personally I don't really know what all the fuss is about as all the joinery shops i've run and or worked in (London / South UK) were all equipped with dust take-offs for power tools and machines as well as the wearing of air fed masks when cutting. Its common sense really; but as i age i realise this is a rare quality in the majority of people.

For what its worth prolonged exposure to any dust will eventually give you cancer, not just MDF and given the extremely poor quality of BS1088 i'll continue to use MDF wherever theres non structural applications.

cheers

roger

www.agentlemansyacht.com
 
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FWIW, Sea Rush had been lined out with B&Q veneered on one side only MDF when I bought her. I didn't realise it until I made cut-outs to gain access to the covered up lockers. I was horrified, but decided I couldn't afford to replace it at the time & it did look good, so I decided to wait until it failed before replacing it as it would give me a year or two to recover from buying her.

That was in 1988. Now, 25 years on & the interior still looks fine, but she hasn't sunk yet either, I expect that filling her with sea water might make it fail, but other than that, it looks like it could last another 25 years. So, if you have found basic MDF in your boat, don't stress about it, but don't let it get soaked!
 
Searush said:
if you have found basic MDF in your boat, don't stress about it, but don't let it get soaked!
Click to expand...

Easier said than done on a boat, though. Just this very evening I came back into my berth, turned off the engine, and realised I could hear the freshwater pump running. Swiftly discovered that the outlet hose had blown off the calorifier, giving the whole after part of the engine bay a hot-water wash-down and spraying the entire contents of the freshwater tank (fortunately it was less than 1/3rd full at the time) all over the place.

One way or another everywhere on a boat will get wet sooner or later, or at least that's the seamanlike assumption to work by.

Pete
 
I had 3, allegedly wood toilet seats. All were in MDF, all de-laminated after about 18 months.
To give then their due, the manufacturers replaced all of them FOC and finally asked me to use
their all-plastic one. That will suffer from UV degradation but has already done 4 years without
cracking. The MDF was allegedly of the waterproof variety.
 
charles_reed said:
I had 3, allegedly wood toilet seats. All were in MDF, all de-laminated after about 18 months.
To give then their due, the manufacturers replaced all of them FOC and finally asked me to use
their all-plastic one. That will suffer from UV degradation but has already done 4 years without
cracking. The MDF was allegedly of the waterproof variety.
Click to expand...

Your concern about UV degradation suggests that you have an open-air toilet. Have you considered a sun-awning?
 
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