Wood Talk recently did a podcast on how they personally get lumber to their workshops. Surprisingly, only one had a truck. I thought it was fitting in what I was trying to figure out. A couple of years ago I needed to trade in my truck for a minivan. Our family has been growing and I needed a little more economical car for my day job commute. So my wife got the minivan and I got her car. We did not get the minivan that could fit a sheet of ply. So the question comes up how do I do it. I did not have to figure out that question until recently. I just received and order for more tiles, which requires a sheet of MDF. So I figured I would hope that the lumber yard would be able to cut it down for me, but I had a backup plan if they could not. I "borrowed" my father's cordless circular saw and brought it with me with some clamps. (I don't think my dad realizes it is missing yet.) The lumber yard did not have the ability to cut down the sheets so with a straight edge and the circular saw the board was knocked down to a more manageable pieces. The lumberyard was happy to provide some assistance and it seemed like this was not the first time a customer has asked to do this. My dad might get is saw back one of these days. The only suggestion I have is to bring an extra battery. They saw does no good with a dead battery.
Now onto the joys of MDF. I do not typically use MDF in my projects because they are toys. However MDF is stable, flat and consistent. My biggest issue working with MDF is the dust that it produces. I take all the precautions I can when machining it. My shop vac is hooked up to the saw and running, I have a respirator on and plenty of ventilation. Still everything was coated in a layer of dust and I was just cutting the parts out. I think when I do the routing I will do it outside. It is very messy to work with.
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