MDF Adhesive

[Scott C. Williams]

I am about to start building a router table which will include a top made up of two layers of .75 MDF for a 1.50 inch total thickness. What is the recommended adhesive to use when joining the two layers?

[Dick Bringhurst]

I used contact cement for mine. have had no problems. Dick B.

[Myk Rian]

I used Titebond III.
Make sure that if the MDF has any bow to it that you put the convex sides together. That will cancel any bowing and it will be flat.

[Shawn Christ]

I used standard Elmer's yellow wood glue when making my cabinet bench tops (they also serve as miter saw extensions). I didn't want the ends to chip out so I edged the tops with 1x2 maple, glued and nailed. No problems yet!

[Larry Edgerton]

I use West System for all my jigs I make out of MDF. You have to do a saturation coat, wait a bit and then do a coat with a little Micro balloon filler for the bonding. You can then hard surface the top with a slightly heated [thins viscosity] batch. I do the bottoms as well to balance, even though it is a man made material.

MDF is incredibly durable when treated this way.

Oh Yea! Make sure that during the curing process that it is flat and level, because any twist in it will stay once the West System cures.

[Chip Lindley]

Yellow wood glue will work fine. The trick will be clamping your two layers perfectly flat while the glue sets. Any variation from *flat* will be permanent!

I suggest you top the slab off with some high pressure laminate. They don't make this stuff like they used to! My first router table in the '70s used *Formica* that was a full 1/16" thick! It is much thinner now but still slick and durable. GoodLuck!

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd use ordinary yellow glue. To clamp the layers together, use wood screws. You can put them in the middle of the panel, where it is difficult to get ordinary clamps. The screws really only pull the laminates together so there's a nice thin glue line. You can take them out afterward if you want. Drill clearance holes through the MDF nearest the heads, so that the screws really pull the laminates together. If you're covering the MDF with formica, you can drive the screws from either face. If you're not putting formica on it, drive the screws from what will be the concealed face.

[Sonny Edmonds]

Yeller wood glue.
That's about all I ever used or needed to.
Schmear it out even as you can.

[Jim O'Dell]

I used Titebond II on mine. No problems. If you want to make sure the glue is spread evenly, get a 1/6th or even 1/8" v-notched trowell. But that would be overkill. I just used a piece of laminate scrap to spreat with, but anything stiff would work fine. Jim.