turning MDF or pineboard

[Alex]

Hi good, smart and hardworking people

I'd like to ask anyone having any experience with MDF or pineboard on the lathe. I've got a little mountain of bits and pieces of MDF and particleboards and don't know what to use them for, as that's not good as BBQ fuel because of formaldehyd used as a glue for glueing that "rubish" but still haven't tried to glue'em together and turn on the lathe, just for fun. I've heard some negative experiences about huge clouds of dust (what could be solved by dust extractor) but nothing else.

Any experiences ??????????????

See us

Alex

[Matto]

My advice is don't do it. I tidied up an MDF disc I was making into a sanding disc once. It was a very messy process in terms of the amount of dust as you mentioned, but the stuff doesn't seem to cut cleanly anyway, no matter how sharp the tools are. Theres also the fact the dust is pretty toxic - the end product wouldn't be worth the risk of breathing in any nasties. Also the finished product would only fit in with a renovation rescue/auction squad/better homes style decor.
:D

Hope this helps,

Matto

[reuelt]

Just buy a low cost Scroll saw.

Lathe is not really suitable for flat thin panels.