Solid wood edge on MDF desk top

[hjtwoods]

I am new to this forum, but have had a few Festools and enjoy using them so I am posting this question. I am making a newly veneered desktop for my grandson's desk and want to know if anyone would have 2nd thoughts about using dominos to connect 1.5" (width) solid wood edge(oak) to MDF veneered core?

Thanks for any help, advice or warnings,

Jim

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I have second thoughts about lotsa stuff, so here's my two cents.

1. No need for a Domino.  A simple glue up will be plenty strong.  Make the wood slightly wider than the MDF, then after glue up trim with a flush trim bit on a router or a sharp hand plane.

2. Probably wouldn't happen, but the domino might swell a little and telegraph that bump onto the veneer surface.  If you go with dominoes, use the smallest ones you have and stay in the middle of the MDF thickness.

Nah.... go ahead and do it, Dominoes are fun! [big grin]

 

[chrisrosenb]

Over the weekend I used dominos to attach 3 1/2" breadboard ends to a table leaf.
They worked fine.

 

[hjtwoods]

Thanks for the responses. My Grandson is 8 so there will be some fairly "hard use" on this desk and I am hoping the dominoes will bond to the MDF with a lot of holding power.

Jim

 

[chrisrosenb]

Jim, just use enough glue & it will be fine.

 

[Guy Ashley]

Another option, and about the only time I use it now, is a size 0 biscuit from a biscuit jointer.

The domino has changed a lot about the way I work but there are occaions such as this that the shallow depth of cut of a biscuit will be better especially if you are worried about swelling coming through.

 

[woodguy7]

Plus 1 on the biscuit.  Better suited to thinner edging.

Woodguy.

 

[grobin]

I am building bookcases out of Baltic Burch and Luptus and have built a cabinet out of mdf with Lyptus edging.  I have been making my edging on the router table and then cutting the board to 1/2 or 3/4" width with my band say (I don't think routing real thin strips is a real good idea).  While I agree that you can get by with glue, a more positive positioning method is better.  I would not mess with biscuts: first you have a domino and second they don't add anything much in the way of strength.  Folks tend to sit or put things on table edges so they tend to be a high stress area that needs extra strength.  So long as the edge is wide enough for dominoes there is no problem and the table will be much more durable.

 

[ccarrolladams]

I am new to this forum, but have had a few Festools and enjoy using them so I am posting this question. I am making a newly veneered desktop for my grandson's desk and want to know if anyone would have 2nd thoughts about using dominos to connect 1.5" (width) solid wood edge(oak) to MDF veneered core?

Thanks for any help, advice or warnings,

Jim

What is important is that you are personally building this desk for your grandson, who will treasure it a long time.

I believe in the Domino, even more so now that the 4mm ones are available. I also still own and use plate joiners when that is appropriate.

Currently I own a top quality automatic edge bander, but would not use it on a custom desk.

For 50 years my approach to solid edge banding, especially with difficult to glue woods, is to mill a tongue on the solid material. I do this daily so I have a moulder set up for the purpose. Previously I would run a rabbit on both sides of solid material slightly wider than the piece being banded. Then I would cut that part off the stock. This can be done on a table saw, with a band saw or with a TS55 on a guide rail using a sharp blade. Following the sawing I would clean the outer face with a joiner.

I cut the groove with a router. After the glue has set I trim the solid edge flush with the veneer. The OF1010 is good for that, especially when the edge band is thicker than 12mm. The newer MFK 700 is my go-to edge trimmer.

Bottom line is which ever method you use, the desk will be beautiful.

 

[nickao]

I totally agree T & G is the way to go and the way I still do it myself. I use this, but mine is in a plastic case and I paid about 75.00:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017Q1SV6/?tag=cu0e-20

My 3 piece kit  is many years old and I have made hundreds of feet of edging,  face frames and cabinets with it and all the bits are still sharp as a razor.

 

[Wonderwino]

Great ideas on different techniques, but MDF does split fairly easily when stressed, especially a thinner milled edge.  [scared]  I think I would edge glue with Bowclamp cauls and then reinforce below with a 3/4 x 3/4 cleat, glued and pin nailed.  If it is an area spanning the knee well, the cleat could be even wider, adding to the structure and creating a better surface to fasten a pencil drawer.  [cool]

 

[nickao]

The T& G adds a ton  more glue surface and definitely makes it stronger, even if the tongue is initially thin.

Once the tounge is in the groove and glued it becomes one super strong piece and no way you can snap that edge off. A piece just butted up and glued can be snapped off.

I have a cabinet in the shop I made 5 years ago and I routinely climb it like a ladder, nothing has happened to the hardwood edging yet.

 

[Pyotr]

Just curious, would it make a difference where you put the tongue (on the MDF or on the hardwood)?

 

[grobin]

With limited T&G experience I would put the grove in the weaker side.  A wider deeper grove is better in MDF.  But the dominoes are much faster and easier and IMHO hold as well or better, if the trim is thick enough to take at least the 10mm of a 4mm domino.  The 5mm or 6mm dominoes are better but extra trim width.  If you put a 3/4 wide edge on a 3/4 inch thick shelf you can use either the 5 or 6mm but for a 1/2 wide you are pretty much limited to the 4mm.

 

[ccarrolladams]

Just curious, would it make a difference where you put the tongue (on the MDF or on the hardwood)?

My experience is that the joint is stronger when the tongue is milled into the edge band material. It has also been my experience that it is easier to cut a groove into the sheet goods.

 

[tDot]

The original poster noted that he's using a sheet good with a Veneer Core and an MDF face... Not MDF.  This product should yield an outer layer of MDF that is about 1/8" (+-) thick on both faces, yielding a center plywood core that's around 1/2"-5/8" thick.

He shouldn't have to worry about a domino swelling and telegraphing through as it will be in the plywood core. I use 5mm and 6mm dominoes in this product on a regular basis.... No problems yet.

 

[jonny round boy]

The original poster noted that he's using a sheet good with a Veneer Core and an MDF face... Not MDF.  This product should yield an outer layer of MDF that is about 1/8" (+-) thick on both faces, yielding a center plywood core that's around 1/2"-5/8" thick.

??? ??? ???

No, he said he was using veneered MDF, ie MDF core, with a thin oak veneer either side. Why would you want a board with veneer on the inside?

 

[mouppe]

The original poster noted that he's using a sheet good with a Veneer Core and an MDF face... Not MDF.  This product should yield an outer layer of MDF that is about 1/8" (+-) thick on both faces, yielding a center plywood core that's around 1/2"-5/8" thick.

??? ??? ???

No, he said he was using veneered MDF, ie MDF core, with a thin oak veneer either side. Why would you want a board with veneer on the inside?

To make the dominoes feel cosy obviously.

 

[Rob-GB]

The original poster noted that he's using a sheet good with a Veneer Core and an MDF face... Not MDF.  This product should yield an outer layer of MDF that is about 1/8" (+-) thick on both faces, yielding a center plywood core that's around 1/2"-5/8" thick.

??? ??? ???

No, he said he was using veneered MDF, ie MDF core, with a thin oak veneer either side. Why would you want a board with veneer on the inside?

To make the dominoes feel cosy obviously.

[laughing]  [laughing]  [laughing]

 

[hjtwoods]

"using dominos to connect 1.5" (width) solid wood edge(oak) to MDF veneered core?"  ----- From my original post.
This thread has become like the game where you whisper something to the person next to you and see what it becomes after passing through 10 people.
The core is MDF and it is veneered. Then I attached a 1.5" wide edge to cover the exposed edge of the MDF.  The thickness of the veneered MDF is approximately 15/16".
I willl either risk using a flush trim bit or be more conventional and use a hand plane and card scrapers to flush the edge down to the veneered core.
I used 5mm dominoes and put on the edge tonight. I think it will be fine. I will follow up if there are problems wiht swelling, etc.

Thanks for the advice and input.

Jim