I am working on preparing a piece for our Daughter to paint. It is a "found" french provincial table that was made as a small computer desk with a pull out tray for a keyboard that has a side sliding shelf for a mouse. I have been sanding the finish off in preparation for painting, but discovered the piece appears to be made of what I call "pressboard". I don't think it is MDF as it is rather soft and turns to a brown dust at the touch of a sander. Am I wrong?
Jim Frye
Is it shiny smooth on one side and patterned on the other? Known as Hardboard
"Hardboard, also known as high-density fiberboard or HDF, is an EWP that can be used for a number of purposes and projects. It is made from small wood fibers and wood pulp that is pressed until it is densely impacted and then baked for added stability."
"Hardboard, also known as high-density fiberboard or HDF, is an EWP that can be used for a number of purposes and projects. It is made from small wood fibers and wood pulp that is pressed until it is densely impacted and then baked for added stability."
Unfortunately, all sides are painted or finished. Only the back is smooth on one side and textured on the other. That I would call Masonite. The rest is what Dave described. The top has a piece of birch veneer applied on top, apparently to handle things being placed on it, but all other surfaces are just the fiberboard. I briefly considered stripping the table and now am glad I opted out of that process. Here what I started with.
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Back in the 70’s … masonite, and tempered masonite. Dark brown, hard shiny finish one side, screen-wire texture on the other side. Commonly used for pegboards.
I think it’s called MDF or medium density fiberboard. It’s usually used in drawer bottoms, backs of cabinets or in your case a sliding shelf. It does have a place in woodworking. I glued two pieces of 3/4” MDF together to make a really nice and solid table top for a radial arm saw With MDF. Also nice for making jigs.
Here's a picture of the material. This is a corner of the top where I sanded through the veneer revealing the substrate. The particle size is really small and I don't see any resin like in MDF. Also there is no grain to the material. The sides have been sanded and appear to have the veneer on both faces like the top.
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If you are going to be painting it I would suggest sealing it with ML Campbell Clawlock. Arguably the best undercoater designed for MDF and fiber based products. It is high solids. sands well, and prevents bleed. You can do a "prim-buff-prime" with BIN also, but if the product is not higher in density you will be far better off with Clawlock
Clawlock looks like a really good product but a gallon (smallest quantity the nearest distributor has) costs more than this piece is worth. I've used other methods to harden MDF and will likely use them on this thing. Also, notice the split in the front side of the piece. These are from the screws used to fasten the table aprons to the carcass. The splits will be CA'd after sanding.
In the 50s ,my Dad and I used waterproof Masonite to build small dinghys. They were made very simply but with a half deck and we sailed them with a centre board.
johnep
johnep
I always thought press board looked like the stuff inside of melamine. I think the technical name for it was crap, but I could just be prejudice against pressboard..
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