Suitability of 18mm Laminated Board for PTS Build?

[Neddy]

Hi,

I can get from work (for free) 18mm laminated board. Pics attached. Any advice on suitability for PTS flow bench?

Google is telling that what I have may be melamine particle board, and that particle board may not be as strong as MDF but there appears to be many factors.

Cheers.

[1960FL]

yes this is Melamine board so it is a little courser product that makes up the substrate than MDV that said the melamine laminate will provide a perfect air seal eliminating the need to paint the interior. I would suggest that if you made a nice skeleton within the bench (Framework) of say 1 X 1 glued thought the corners and "X" the flat panels it would be plenty strong for what we do at 28", if you plan on testing higher you may want to think different.

Rick,

[jfholm]

Neddy,
I in fact made my first one from this. I made just the chamber side and plumbed in two shop vacuums just to see if it would work. It worked very nicely. Like Rick said though make a frame work if you are going to use very high pressure with it.

John

[Neddy]

Appreciate the replies. I think I'll give it a go, perhaps with a little reinforcement.

[Brucepts]

Any part of the build that sees airflow and is just raw particle board should be sealed with paint so it does not leak air. This would apply to the passages within the flowbench design.

[ivanhoew]

this what i used for my bench , in fact i think it was little thinner , it was old kitchen cupboard doors .appears to work perfectly with a 2 by 3 at the joins.

[jfholm]

this what i used for my bench , in fact i think it was little thinner , it was old kitchen cupboard doors .appears to work perfectly with a 2 by 3 at the joins.

Robert is that a metric or Imperial measurement

[ivanhoew]

imperial john lol.

and im off to Vancouver for Christmas , so you have just reminded of the weirdness that is buying a 2 by 4 ,and getting a 1.75 by 3.75 ..

[bigblock57]

Just be aware to make ajustments in the plan dimentions to allow for the difference in thickness of the material.