Monday, March 15, 2010

Which one is better MDF or plywood for kitchen cabinet?

September 24, 2008 by juliansimm  
Filed under QnA ask julian

i was reading some ” Home & decor” old magazines dated 2006. i find that this article very interesting.

“Q My contractor tells me that imported kitchen cabinets tend to be made of melamine or MDF. But local kitchens use plywood, which he say is stronger, Is he right?

Answer

As with all building materials, melamine medium density fibreboard (MDF) and plywood come in many grades, so it’s simplistic to decare one material being stronger better than another, that depends on the quality of the materials.

MDF, a heavy duty imported board popular in kitchen construction, is not only in imported cabinets but, is widely used by local kitchen design firms as well. Plywood comes in different thicknesses and just another option.

If you get thin-walled plywood cabinet, it would be less sturdy than a cabinet made of good MDF. MDF also comes finished with clean, attractive surface, which plywood sheets come raw and require a layer veneer or melamine, which would peel off in the case prolonged water damage.”

I don’t really understanding what she is explaining over here but i will try my best to explain all this again

1.) Yes most of the imported furniture and cabinet are using  melamine MDF.

Reason is that most imported furniture and cabinet are having smooth and glossy spray paint finish or melamine finish and MDF tend to be a better material use as comes with clean and finish surface.

High pressure laminate finish is very popular among the home owners and the designers in Singapore. And be it  having wide range colour to choose from.

Normally,  the common practice here , the carpenter  likes to use plywood for kitchen cabinet. And most of the time,  most laminate door edges come with ABS trimming as it prevent the laminate from peeling. Ever how good the finishing between the laminate and the ABS trimming but it still has a tiny gap in between.

If MDF is to be use for the laminate door, it will swell if water slip into the board from the laminate and the ABS trimming.

she was saying something about thin wall plywood for it carcass and i wanted to add some pointers.Normally, different thickness of plywoods are  being use to construct the cabinet e.g you don’t use 3mm for the side panel you only use it for the back panel and most side panels are 15mm thick plywood.

And for design and aesthetic purpose i might use 50mm thickness side panels.

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One Response to “Which one is better MDF or plywood for kitchen cabinet?”
  1. Dear Sir,
    We have read about the different opinon of people regarding the MDF and PLYWOOD Carcass or Boxes.The best will be Both side Laminated Marine Grade Gurgen Plywood of 18mm thickness and for Exposed side Veneer laminates which will give a natural finish of Wood .The shutters will be made of Solid wood .
    We are into the production of plywood for the past 25yrs and a year back we have started a new unit for the production of Modular Kitchen and Wardrobes with the latest Imported Machines.
    The melamine Mdf of Exterior grade can also be used for the Carcass or Boxes but it wont give the durability of the Laminated Plywood mentioned above.For this we can use shutter of less weight .

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