MFT Cabinet-Construction Questions

[munchcolo]

I'm going to build rolling cabinets for my 2 MFT 1080's.  The design will be almost exactly like the cabinet built by jmatz in this thread.  Before I start I have a few questions for y'all.
1.  What do you recommend for the material?  Plywood would seem to be the best choice for strength and screw holding ability.  What about MDF, would I be crazy to consider that?
2.  What about joinery?  Butt joints, domino, dado, or some combination.  I'm assuming I would want to glue and screw everything.
3.  The front will have 2 wide vertical spaces for Systainer storage, and a narrower vertical space for drawers for supplies, similar to the jmatz cabinet.  In the 2 wide spaces, I'm thinking about adding pull-out shelves with a lipped front.  What would be the best slide to use for this?
All thoughts, tips, suggestions, etc are appreciated.

 

[Frank Pellow]

I built a rolling cabinet to fit under my MFT, rather than the approach that you will be taking, but I would think that a lot of the things that I did will work for you.  

My cabinet is built mostly out of Baltic Birtch plywood, but it also utilizes hardwood boards and  some MDF.

Here is a link to the thread that describes my cabinet in LOTS of detail : http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=203.0

 

[AlexThePalex]

What about MDF, would I be crazy to consider that?
2.  What about joinery?  Butt joints, domino, dado, or some combination.  I'm assuming I would want to glue and screw everything.

There's nothing wrong with MDF, you can make a very strong cabinet out of it. Only thing you'd have to consider is that MDF is heavier than plywood, so if you want to keep the cabinet as mobile as possible, plywood might be a better choice. Especially if you want to store your tools in the cabinet, together with MDF the weight might add up. However, in some cases it might be beneficial. The heavier the cabinet is, the tougher the job you can perform on it.

About joinery, I have no Domino so I always use a combination of dados, glue and screws. Got no problems with the strength of my joints so far. I only think a Domino would make for a better looking result. If I had one, I would consider using it instead. But on the other hand, since you want your cabinet to be sturdy, some screws might be more favourable.

 

[Wonderwino]

I have built several cabinets with melamine that have held up well.  For the joinery, I used dominos glued in as tennons and screws for tension.  To make the screws hold better in the particle board (this works great for MDF & endgrain, too!) I cut domino holes from the inside of the cabinet about 1/2" from the edge of the panel to act as a cross-dowel to hold the screws.  If you set the depth of the domino to less than the thickness of the panel and saw the domino off flush, it is nearly invisible.  I use a small strip Fastcap edge banding to conceal the domino cross-dowels.

 

[butzla]

Wonderwino,  that's an interesting method I've never thought of.  good if you are using particle board or melamine.  If using plywood I use dominos and pocket screws.  With pocket screws, you are screwing into cross grain rather than just end grain and using screws eliminates any clamping.   You can mill the pockets on the inside or outside to hide the pockets, depending on the application.
Here's an example in my golf locker thread.
[attachthumb=1]

 

[Wonderwino]

I too, have used pocket screws on projects which need to be more cosmetically appealing.  For shop utility cabinets, I think the cross dowel method is much stronger and less likely to fail than a pocket screw, as you are creating a hardwood "washer" which spreads the pulling force of the screw over a wider area.  Cabinets that are moved, like sysports, are more likely to undergo addition stress over statically mounted cabinets.  I use plastic caps in the screws to make them prettier.  If these joints fail, I would guess you'd have to rebuild the whole cabinet!

 

[joraft]

For strong joints on MDF or particle board, it's hard to beat confirmat screws.

They also allow for easy diassembly, when needed.

 

[Wonderwino]

I've used Confirmat screws, drilled with the proper bit, to the proper depth, in the center of the stock and I still notice a slight split in the MDF on some holes after disassembling  cases that have been screwed.

Wtih Domino cross dowels, I can use about any good quality #10 or#12 screw with a proper pilot hole and those babies squeak when you put the torque on 'em!

 

[butzla]

I'll have to try that cross dowel thing.  What size domino do you typically use?

 

[bruegf]

One of the first things I built w/ my festool tools was a homemade sysport using box store particle board core melamine.  It was assembled w/o screws using butt joints, dominos and glued together w/ gorilla glue, although the back is just held in place w/ screws. 

It has held up fine, but it only gets rolled around the shop.  I'd use plywood if you plan to move it around beyond the shop environment, both for weight and strength reasons.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=167.60

Fred

 

[woodshopdemos]

Elena and I made such a cabinet some time ago. Here is the story:
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/fes-cab-1.htm

and we used Domino tenons throughout...

 

[butzla]

John,  Your final few web pages are missing.  I'd love to see some finished pics.

 

[Wonderwino]

I'll have to try that cross dowel thing.  What size domino do you typically use?

I usually use the 6x20s.  I can get two joints out of each domino.  I suppose you could use the larger ones for bigger screws, or if you want to make them a design feature when screwing into end grain, use sipo in ash, oak or birch for contrast.

 

[jmatz]

Well, I really got sidetracked from my original MFT cabinet project... It's been a couple of years since I made this thing and posted a few photos in another thread.
A few people asked if there were plans for this version of the cabinet.
Below is a link to what amounts to my plans, in PDF format.  It's about as formal as I get with measuring and drawing before hacking apart the 4'x8' plywood panels !
Joinery was just butt joints fastened with countersunk 1.5" square-drive drywall screws, no glue.  The thing is rock-solid and has had much use without any loosening of the panels.

Still haven't added drawer slides to the shelves - maybe this summer  [embarassed].

Just in case the file attachment in this message doesn't work, here is a link to the file:

http://tinyurl.com/yelmhul

 

[spikfot]

I can't recommend MDF for anything except for flat shop surfaces. Cutting that stuff is a drag, the dust is as irritable as it comes. Am I the only one who gets a rash from that stuff?

 

[PaulMarcel]

I can't recommend MDF for anything except for flat shop surfaces. Cutting that stuff is a drag, the dust is as irritable as it comes. Am I the only one who gets a rash from that stuff?

Nope.  Even with DC, the lingering fines really bother my throat.  I, too, only use it for shop surfaces.

 

[Wood_Junkie]

I'm becoming more and more of a fan of MDO.  Plywood core has the benefits of strength and weight, with the nice even and smoothed surface of MDF on the outside.  I used it to make an outfeed table for my tablesaw (almost the full 4'x8' fully opened).

To jmatz, I'm so glad you posted that photo because it showed something I hadn't thought of in making an under-MFT type cabinet/base... Not using the MFT legs!  Briliant!

 

[JohnDistai]

@JMatz - Thanks for posting this.  I plan on doing this when I buy a MFT.  I would be interested in seeing any other designs if others are willing to share.

 

[sw1211]

@JMatz - Thanks for posting this.  I plan on doing this when I buy a MFT.  I would be interested in seeing any other designs if others are willing to share.

There are a lot to look at, under the search function, try "MFT Cabinet"

 

[spikfot]

For me the beauty of the MFT is it's portability. If I was going to make them stationary, I'd just build the top and buy some aluminum "C" channel for the front and or sides and spend the extra few hundred on clamps/ clamping elements and drawer sliders.
Pulling the legs off of an MFT is sort of like buying a motor home and taking the wheels off. Why not just buy a trailer instead?