cupboards and shelves

[romarni123]

Have finally finished refittting boat and have done it in oak, now the problem i have is i have to make a cupboard bookcase and shelves in the saloon but i dont know what to use to make them (when i say me, its only in a supervising, moaning, nagging capacity) anyone got any ideas. I am sure oak will be very expensive

[ChrisPy]

I found that oak is actually less expensive than I expected.

There are several budget ranges of compact furniture available in light oak that may be useful.

[Grace and Favour]

You could get prices for oak from your local timber merchants - or even approach your local flooring businesses (Topps Tiles, FloorsRUs etc ad nauseum) - and price up the lengths of timber you need

[bottle]

Oak faced ply?

 

You will need the 'edging' which I think you iron on.

[dor]

What i didn't use solid oak for, I used 18mm oak-faced blockboard. I had some 18mm x 30mm solid oak which was biscuit-jointed (with my £18 Wickes biscuit jointer) to the edge. Use a router with a good 6mm bit, run against a clamped on batten to get a perfectly straight clean edge to your blockboard.

 

I'll try and add a pic as an example.

 

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46849458@N06/44779159673

Edited March 31, 2010 by dor

[soldthehouse]

Have finally finished refittting boat and have done it in oak, now the problem i have is i have to make a cupboard bookcase and shelves in the saloon but i dont know what to use to make them (when i say me, its only in a supervising, moaning, nagging capacity) anyone got any ideas. I am sure oak will be very expensive

Depending on the application and length of span of shelves veneeered oak mdf is a cost effective board to use, the advantage being that the mdf is the same sort of colour as oak so if you sand the edges well it will laquer up to be a very similar colour to natural oak and depending on where you buy it £30 quid a sheet. the other advantage is that you dont need edging which always looks moderate and has a tendency to come off.

[steelaway]

Depending on the application and length of span of shelves veneeered oak mdf is a cost effective board to use, the advantage being that the mdf is the same sort of colour as oak so if you sand the edges well it will laquer up to be a very similar colour to natural oak and depending on where you buy it £30 quid a sheet. the other advantage is that you dont need edging which always looks moderate and has a tendency to come off.

 

 

Ditto ..... , rounded off, polished and varnished, the edges look the pefect colour ..............and it wont warp

[Albion]

Depending on the application and length of span of shelves veneeered oak mdf is a cost effective board to use, the advantage being that the mdf is the same sort of colour as oak so if you sand the edges well it will laquer up to be a very similar colour to natural oak and depending on where you buy it £30 quid a sheet. the other advantage is that you dont need edging which always looks moderate and has a tendency to come off.

 

Don't you have to be careful with MDF and Chipboard though as I seem to remember that they have a tendency to sag depending on the shelf span and weight placed upon them?

Roger

[soldthehouse]

Don't you have to be careful with MDF and Chipboard though as I seem to remember that they have a tendency to sag depending on the shelf span and weight placed upon them?

Roger

Having used my original post in your post the first line covers this eloquently

[Guest]

I too used oak faced MDF to good effect.

[soldthehouse]

If I could add a useful tip, most shopfitters and barfitting workshops work in Ash/Oak MDF and will have a great many long offcuts of material. We used to burn skip loads. 1" thick mdf especially veneered will take a fair weight on a longish span even when only supported by screws led in through say a back panel. 1" veneered boards are used to make both rectangular and circular tables that you wil find in most pubs nowadays so the volume of offcuts at he workshops is high and a pain to dispose of. I would have thought most workshops would be happy to give it away.

[romarni123]

Many thanks will try the mdf. Will have to wait for rain to stop as we will have to cut it outside.could be a long wait with the weather at the moment

[lemontoes]

I've just used oak faced 18mm mdf to make the partitions and shelves in the boy's cabins........the local timber yard cut me some lengths of oak trim to finish the edges, which I just glued and pinned, (rather than iron on strips). It seems sturdy enough.

[Guest]

I've just used oak faced 18mm mdf to make the partitions and shelves in the boy's cabins........the local timber yard cut me some lengths of oak trim to finish the edges, which I just glued and pinned, (rather than iron on strips). It seems sturdy enough.

I did the trims in a similar fashion. Very simple and effective. Surprised we haven't been told off for using MDF yet?

[soldthehouse]

I did the trims in a similar fashion. Very simple and effective. Surprised we haven't been told off for using MDF yet?

No but you are for using trims. The whole point and only advantage of mdf is that edging is not required.............

[starman]

Depending on the application and length of span of shelves veneeered oak mdf is a cost effective board to use, the advantage being that the mdf is the same sort of colour as oak so if you sand the edges well it will laquer up to be a very similar colour to natural oak and depending on where you buy it £30 quid a sheet. the other advantage is that you dont need edging which always looks moderate and has a tendency to come off.

 

I've never used veneered mdf - does the veneer stand up to usage okay if the cut end of the board is left unprotected by a hardwood trim? Will it splinter at all when routered. (I'm used to ply and such like where 'raw' ends are v. prone to splintering. if not covered by trims)

[Albion]

Having used my original post in your post the first line covers this eloquently

 

Aahh, OK, it wasn't immediately apparent what your first line was trying to tell us. However, on re-reading in context I can see what you were saying, but originally it seemed to be talking about cost.

Roger

Edited April 1, 2010 by Albion

[blackrose]

I made some cupboards out of Ikea 1" thick solid wood (butcher's block) worktop.

 

I basically made a frame from square section pine, cladded the top and sides with the worktop and put some pine shelves inside. Then I hung the doors (stained pine). The butchers block isn't oak so I experimented with some stains on a waste piece until I got some sort of match. I hadn't done much woodwork before and a couple of "you don't do it like that" types told me I was doing it all wrong, but I'm happy with the results.

 

Bedroom cupboards

 

More cupboards in the corridor leading to the bedroom. The cupboard under the TV was also made in the same way and you can just see the end of the stereo cabinet with glass doors on the right of the picture - also made out of the same worktop.

Edited April 1, 2010 by blackrose

[WotEver]

I've never used veneered mdf - does the veneer stand up to usage okay if the cut end of the board is left unprotected by a hardwood trim? Will it splinter at all when routered.

Yes, if you're cutting across the grain. What I do is to make a knife cut on the line (I should use a marking knife, but I use a Stanley) then saw close to the line before using the 'straight-router-cutter-with-a-batten-guide' technique to trim the edge up to my knife cut. You'll get perfectly smooth edges like that.

 

Alternatively, if you're going to be using a roundover bit and then polishing, a little bit of break-out of the veneer isn't going to matter because the roundover will remove it.

 

No-one's mentioned finish yet, so I'll re-state here that I'm a huge fan of Danish Oil (or one of the variants thereof).

 

Tony

[Albion]

No-one's mentioned finish yet, so I'll re-state here that I'm a huge fan of Danish Oil (or one of the variants thereof).

 

Tony

 

Yeah but we're not interested in your personal fetishes, what about the boat shelves?

Roger

[steelaway]

I've never used veneered mdf - does the veneer stand up to usage okay if the cut end of the board is left unprotected by a hardwood trim? Will it splinter at all when routered. (I'm used to ply and such like where 'raw' ends are v. prone to splintering. if not covered by trims)

 

 

Hi

 

Oak veneered MDF table - routed centre, radiused and polished edges, been in use 5 years.

 

Alex

 

 

[Chagall]

I made some cupboards out of Ikea 1" thick solid wood (butcher's block) worktop.

 

I basically made a frame from square section pine, cladded the top and sides with the worktop and put some pine shelves inside. Then I hung the doors (stained pine). The butchers block isn't not oak so I experimented with some stains on a waste piece until I got some sort of match. I hadn't done much woodwork before and a couple of "you don't do it like that" types told me I was doing it all wrong, but I'm happy with the results.

 

Bedroom cupboards

 

More cupboards in the corridor leading to the bedroom. The cupboard under the TV was also made in the same way and you can just see the end of the stereo cabinet with glass doors on the right of the picture - also made out of the same worktop.

 

These are lovely pictures, I love your boat lounge. Thanks for posting them.

[WotEver]

Yeah but we're not interested in your personal fetishes, what about the boat shelves?

Roger

[romarni123]

These are lovely pictures, I love your boat lounge. Thanks for posting them.

I agree it looks really lovely

 

Hi

 

Oak veneered MDF table - routed centre, radiused and polished edges, been in use 5 years.

 

Alex

 

 

Thanks for pics that is exactly what i want thanks

[blackrose]

These are lovely pictures, I love your boat lounge. Thanks for posting them.

Thanks. A friend of mine recently took some more interior pictures with a really good camera - I never realised what a difference a good camera made. I'll try and post one soon.

 

Mike