What Type of Wood???

[nextcar]

Originally Posted by IceFyre13th

Far be it from me to pass on what my girlfriend said.....shes a carpenter by day...

and I quote...." the best wood for nailing is morning wood, it can take a hammering for a while, but you must be careful about banging it too long as it my become soft ".......

So there you have it, from and expert no less...........your choice of wood should be morning wood.

Came here looking for this response - was not disappointed.

Giggity Giggity, Alright!

[Spuds]

... too easy... Pass

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

Tip: Don't rely on fasteners so much - MDF in particular is strong in compression, weak in suspension. Build with this in mind.

So, some over-engineering for the projected loads ahead:

So, that top piece that's also a diving board? It should sit on top of front, left, and back vertical pieces, and a butt joint against the right piece. The reason: The right side will see vertical shear. If you really want to do this right, you'll notch the front/back so you get strength in both directions.

The other platforms should all sit on top of the vertical members.

A second consideration: Make it so you don't have to cut pieces to perfect dimensions. This probably goes a little bit against the recommendations for strength, but... on every butt joint, one piece can extend past the joint. This is convenient, because it can be flush-trimmed with that handy router of yours. Choose wisely and you can do this on nearly every joint.

If your straight cuts are going to suck, consider using something like LocTite PL 3x. It requires pinning or clamping, since it expands as it cures - but this also helps it fill voids from sloppy work. It takes a little extra work to trim clean and finish.

Otherwise, a type 1 or 3 woodworkers glue is recommended. Type 2 if you need it to be somewhat water resistant (or the above recommended PL). With MDF, I hope you don't care about water, because... it's a mess.

That's all for now.

Words chosen to maintain a vague amount of consistency with both conversations happening in this thread... Ok, not really - the topics maintain an odd amount of similarity in word sounds without extra help.