Ultra-Light MDF vs. Regular MDF
 

i decided to give a ghanal lumber a try for mdf this time as the mdf from home depot and lowes hasn't been that great in my area. anyways, they cary a ultra-light mdf which is definitely much lighter. the salesman said it is suppose to have the strength and density of regular mdf. however being that i haven't used this product before, i got the regular mdf. has anyone used this before? i might give it a try if it's really up to par with regular mdf.

i did not know they made a lighter sheet of MDF? i didnt know there was a way to take one type of wood and make it lighter? dont you think it woudl way the same if it was the same size? thats just sounds a little farfecthed for me to undertsand! its messed up! thats what i say roe? :lol:

yup...if it was the same type of wood and same density....wouldn't it make sense to be the same weight??? MAYBE it just the SALESMAN doing his job :lol:

well as most of you know. mdf is a bunch of wood fibers "saw dust" that's been glued together with resins and other chemicals. it's also not a "type" of wood, rather a general term for wood that has been compressed/glued to form a fiberboard. if you buy mdf often, you'll see that it can vary according to particle size. according to the salesman, rather then having an assorment of saw dust, ultra-light mdf is selective on what's used to reduce the overall weight. that makes complete sense to me.

and no he wasn't lying. they had the two side by side and the ultra-light is definitely lighter. it "appeared/felt" just as strong as well. however, i don't know much about this material and how well it would work for an enclosure. that's the reason i wanna know if someone has worked with the material.

well if its lighter there is a difference from regular MDF. the only thing that matters is that change affects the acoustics/strength of the wood.

iirc, particle size is the main classifiction of mdf and not weight. i would question the density as it will change the acoustic characteristics.

that makes more sense....lol....

some one should take one for the team and try it out...I'm all about saving weight, cuz i built for car for speed, and every 100 extra pounds eqautes to a tenth in my quarter mile times...

what if you made a box otu of this and lined it with resin, and brace it very well...i don't see how it would act any different as long as it doesn't flex or leak....

i would try it out, but i won't have a system till late summer..

Never heard of it until now. Just googled it and came up with the following.

There is something called Trupan that I found in the search. Here is the info.
From the looks of it MDF weighs in a 102lbs for a 4x8 sheet of 3/4". Trupan weighs in a about 80lbs. Northern Pind MDF weighs in at 98lbs.

Hope my blabbering helps

pretty good info! i'll have to research about the strength characteristics of ultra-light mdf.

a 4x8 sheet is 100 lbs...wow....never seems that much when you go and buy some...

wow i cant believe that stuff weighs 100 pounds! it sure as hell dont seem like it at all, but thats prolly just cuz every time i am carrying a sheet i have someone helping me so it seems to weigh liek around 50lbs!

for the 20 pounds weight savings, i woudlnt bother.

yes "regular" mdf weighs in between 98 and 105 pounds depending on the area of the country your mdf came from.

that's the biggest problem with spl vehicles, because the mdf adds so much weight.

if you guys recall my truck build, i used two layers of mdf, backed with 2x4's.

the 2x4's are there for strength. if i took out the 2x4's to get equivalent strenght, i would need FOUR layers of mdf instead of 2.

well, considering i have 10 sheets of mdf in the truck, that's roughly 1,000 pounds. just for mdf.

and about 100 pounds for all the 2x4's

if i lost the 2x4's and went with 4 layers of mdf, i'd be weighing in at over 2,000 pounds.


now you know why i used the 2x4 framing :) it saved me 900 pounds :D

haha that explains why my friend couldent carry it by himself. I could but he couldent. Im just a beast i guess....

yea but every pound counts, even if its just 200lbs less from the mdf

true.

however, i forgot to mention....

there must be a reason why its 20 pounds less.


it CANT possibly be the same strength, the same density, or the same resins and fibers, if its 20 pounds less.

i would be hesitant to use it, because the density MUST be different, as a matter of fact, simple science TELLS us the density is different, for it to weight 20 pounds less.


that's what i was getting at. for a 20 pound weight savings, i woudlnt bother, because the density differance, in my opinion, outweighs (no pun intended) the weight savings.