Does anyone know a place to buy simple MDF board cut to specific sizes?
There’s a seller on eBay that does it, but that’s only for the UK.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MDF-6mm-300mm-x-300mm-12-x12-approx-We-Can-Cut-To-Size-/221743238718
I need to get a 230x230mx piece of 6mm MDF for the 3D Printer I’m building.
Try Windsor Plywood. They'll probably charge you a small cutting fee.
Both Home Depot and Rona sell small sheets of MDF (2’x4’) that you can get them to cut down to any size…
@nadir_seen_fire Unfortunately they won’t cut it for you. PM me, I’m near the PNE, I probably have a scrap somewhere I can cut to size for you. Is the thickness critical?
ps. pls don’t cut MDF at vhs, we don’t have dust collection, the dust is bad for you (hence why rona and hd won’t cut it).
Oh, you’re saying Rona and HD will sell and cut boards, but won’t cut MDF (and similar materials) specifically due to the dust.
The thickness is not critical as far as tolerances go, it doesn’t need to fit in an exact 6mm sized gap or anything.
However it does support the moving y axis of the printer. So much thinner and it will not have the strength to support the build plate and stabilize the axis. To thick and it’ll become heavy which will slow down the axis and increase friction causing it to potentially stick more and cause defects in prints.
How bad is the dust when drilling a few holes at home?
They’re concerned from an OHS perpective, long term exposure etc etc. Drilling doesn’t make a lot of dust anyway, it’s sawing that puts the stuff in the air. I have a dust extractor on my table saw, it does a decent job.
I have a bunch of 3/4" (~17mm) that I can cut some off for you free.
That’s good news for when I drill the holes to attach it to the printer parts.
Hmmm. That sounds really thick, I think it’ll double the weight of my print bed (from ~546g to ~1029g).
It would be interesting in that if I felt like it, I could actually drill a counterbore into the side of the screw hole that a nut goes and then use epoxy to fix the nut in place.
But I’m still not sure how good an idea that extra weight would be for the printer.
Called up Windsor Plywood and it sounds like getting it from them will work.
Cutting fee is $1 and I have to pay the cost of the quarter sheet of mdf that gets cut. Total cost after tax will probably be somewhere around $7.
I’ll just have to convert all my measurements to imperial since they don’t work in metric.
lil late on this one but yes, Windsor would be the place to go to. I always get my MDF there and usually ask them to cut it. Lol and yes, they only work in imperial ***they usually have scraps too so if you need smaller, ask them for scraps first. They might even cut the scrap for you if you ask them kindly 
I’ve had them cut as small as 4" x 8" little panels and worked something out to donate $ to their fundraiser instead of pay for the cut fee. That’s Windsor in Coquitlam tho…
I went to Windsor Plywood in Surrey yesterday and got my sheet. The quarter sheet was $5 + tax and they were nice enough to forgo the cutting fees.
So now I have 2 9x9" squares (one build platform, one spare if I need it) and some extra MDF lying around I can have cut somewhere (including there if I feel like it) if I want to build another printer or cannibalize mine to build a larger size.
Didn’t think of asking for scraps. Not sure if they had any.