Screws for Melamine or MDF

[Rick Bucker]

I want to make a couple of sanding discs using MDF or closet board (white plastic? coating) and particle board (no plywood) that I have laying around. I know that I could glue a wood block to them and then thread it or screw a faceplate to it. Can I use screws to directly attach a faceplate to one layer of the MDF, melamine or particle board to safely make around a 10" disc sander? I understand that it is difficult for screws to hold in MDF. What kind of screws should I use? I think they need to be around 3/4" for one layer of MDF and around 1 1/2" for two layers of MDF.

I have done a search on this. There were a lot of articles but none seemed to answer if you can safely attach a faceplate direct to MDF, melamine or particle board.

Thanks in advance.

Rick

 

[Brian Gustin]

I want to make a couple of sanding discs using MDF or closet board (white plastic? coating) and particle board (no plywood) that I have laying around. I know that I could glue a wood block to them and then thread it or screw a faceplate to it. Can I use screws to directly attach a faceplate to one layer of the MDF, melamine or particle board to safely make around a 10" disc sander? I understand that it is difficult for screws to hold in MDF. What kind of screws should I use? I think they need to be around 3/4" for one layer of MDF and around 1 1/2" for two layers of MDF.

I have done a search on this. There were a lot of articles but none seemed to answer if you can safely attach a faceplate direct to MDF, melamine or particle board.

Thanks in advance.

Rick

Dunno about safety , but I made mine out of an old MDF computer desktop piece - about 1" thick, screwed to a 4" faceplate, making a 6 inch sanding disk to mount on my lathe, and have had zero problems with it- For such a use, MDF holds up just fine as long as you aren't getting it wet from anything. So far it has held up well for the 3 years or so since I made it, and I don't foresee it coming apart any time soon.

 

[Tom Gall]

As Brian said. You could also glue and screw a wood disc to the MDF and then screw your faceplate to the disc.

 

[BobCoates]

You could also use flat head bolt the size of the hole in the face plate with the nuts on the faceplate side. Glue the bolts into the counter sink (slight recess) mdf so they won't turn.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I did a 12 inch MDF disc because MDF is almost perfectly flat. I glued a block to the back which had been tapped and threaded for my spindle. Have had no problems but it gets minimal use.

 

[Bryan Field]

I have a couple of faceplates made with a nut sized for my headstock epoxied in to the MDF withe JB Weld.

 

[hockenbery]

Screws strip easily in MDF - hard to get them tight.
I’ve made a lot of straka chucks( donut chucks) from MDF that are mounted on a chuck with a recess.
This works well and they have stood up well in classes and workshops.

I use a worm screw when I make them taking care not strip the screw Mount hole.

http://swat.hockenbery.net/Making%20a%20straka%20Chuck.pdf

 

[Kevin Jenness]

Working with materials at hand I made a 12" disc with two 1/2" pieces of melamine coated particleboard screwed together and a faceplate ring screwed to it. I used #8 steel screws which are my standard for cabinet work. With a properly sized pilot hole they are reliable. I have found mcp tends to stay flat better than mdf and the coated surface works better with the self-adhesive discs than raw mdf. I made a tilting platform as well which is handy for tuning up miter joints.

 

[robo hippy]

For a good hold, like Al said, drill a perfect sized pilot hole, and use bigger screws with coarse threads. I generally don't use it, but I do the same thing when using plywood. Don't remember what size screw I use. Most of mine are spilled in the bottom of a big drawer, and well blended....

robo hippy

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Screws strip easily in MDF - hard to get them tight.
I’ve made a lot of straka chucks( donut chucks) from MDF that are mounted on a chuck with a recess.
This works well and they have stood up well in classes and workshops.

I use a worm screw when I make them taking care not strip the screw Mount hole.

http://swat.hockenbery.net/Making%20a%20straka%20Chuck.pdf

Using a block glued and screwed to MDF will hold till the cows come home. With sanding you would be using low speeds and should be fairly light pressure . Also the force would not be pulling against the screw vertically but horizontal to the screw. As to stripping a proper size drilled hole and only snug the screw. It is almost impossible to set a screw into the stuff without drilling as the screw lifts the layers as it penetrates. All these forces mean MDF will work fine and it is cheap, ok cheaper than most other materials. Tee Nuts work quite well in MDF also.

 

[Rick Bucker]

Thank you for the info. Any glues to use or stay away from when using MDF or Melamine?

Thanks again for your input.

Rick