MDF Cabinets for the Dummy Cabinetmaker

Why you don't use edge screws in MDF

Every once in a while our research team runs across a how-to question to which anyone who understands the situation would simple say, "Don't do it." Sadly, at the mother lode of misinformation (the sites formerly known as eHow.com, now spread out across a bunch of niche sites) people who understood the situation were in short supply. That's why someone named Katherine Barrington ran with the question "How to Build a Kitchen Cabinet with MDF," now at HomeSteady.com.

Barrington's qualifications for answering this question, according to her bio, are that she has written on topics "from arts and crafts to pets, health and do-it-yourself projects"; that and a BA in "English with a creative writing concentration." In other words, she has none. So rather than saying, "Don't do it!" Kathy starts off by waxing eloquent about MDF. That's where we learn that,

"MDF is an inexpensive building material made from wood fibers glued together under intense heat and pressure, which results in a flexible wood product with no grain. Because it has no grain, MDF is less prone to splitting and splintering, so you will not have to worry about repairing or replacing your kitchen cabinets for years to come."

Well, she got the "wood fibers glued together" part right... Barrington's problem is that, since she has probably never worked with – maybe never even seen – MDF, she seems unaware that the stuff doesn't hold screws, much less nails, and so MDF casework is typically assembled around a wooden frame or uses dadoes and special cam-lock fasteners (think Ikea...). That must be why Katherine thought you could build your cabinet out of half-inch MDF. Yep, build a big box out of half-inch MDF slabs that you've screwed together with butt joints...

It's also why Barrington told her readers to put shelves into their cabinets like so:

"Cut your shelves out o f [sic] 1/2-inch MDF using the depth and length measurements of your cabinet... Mark the positions of your shelves along the side panels of the cabinet. Position your shelves horizontally between the side panels and attach them by driving 1-inch wood screws through the... side panels and back panel into the shelves."

Now we know that won't work, but Barrington didn't. That's even though Katherine's one reference explicitly states, "If you are screwing, the screws should not be any further than 25mm in from the edge," which is backwards: it should be at least 25mm from an edge... and that's impossible in a shelf 13mm thick!  If that's the best resource Kate could come up with, it's no wonder she completely botched her assignment. She doesn't say to make a frame, tries to screw into the edges of MDF, and obviously has no experience in trying to make a cabinet. Still, Barrington exercised her wondrous "creative writing" skills to make up instructions out of whole cloth – or, perhaps, simply repurpose instructions that are either for a small display case or for plywood. Either way, Katherine is richly deserving of her reward: she's the Dumbass of the Day!

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