My head board project part 5

The flat table

Though all the parts were already being pre-cut to size according to my drawing earlier, I had to cut the holes for our 2-Gang plug socket myself and one 25mm dia. thru holes with a holesaw on each side of the bed (I don’t even know what was it for yet, but thought it might came in handy for those wiring etc. though). The plug will serve as our charging points for our lappies and handphones. I call it, “For Him & For Her plug”. No more rebut2 plug point after this. Hehehee…

Again, cutting and drilling this MDF board is a mess. If you plan to do it at your home, make sure it’s well ventilated and be careful of the exposure of urea formaldehyde. I read it somewhere in the internet it’s not so good for your health – but yet to be proven of its effects?? Hurrmm... Owh yes, make sure you have your safety mask as well – meant for the fine dust. If you being arrogant because you have cut dozens of ply wood and other type of woods before, with this one, you’ll be surprised. Even our supplier (whom helped us to cut them in size whom also a kitchen cabinet maker) was surprised with the level of dust generated.

A 4”x2”x 1meter (L) was bolted with 5 wall plugs. Cant remember the size of the wall plugs though. The result? With additional L brackets to support the end sides, I got myself a pretty darn strong table. I can even jump on it without worry… Really3x..I jumped a couple of times on it…Literally (over designed perhaps).

Look at the colour of the wall – its cloudy blue…and its not even a San Cora paint…hehehe…naturally done…heheheh

As these ‘pillars’ parts were already been cut to size, whats left was to attach them together and patch them up with my lovely wood filler.

How did I attached them together?

1. Thru hole on the surface board (the ones with the wood filler) sized slightly bigger than my #8 self tap screw and another end was pre-drilled with 2mm hole and counter sunk top with a 8mm bit.
2. Apply wood glue (put the glue in a small empty bottled water with a hole on the cap – makes life easier applying the glue)
3. Use L-square to get the angle right
4. Use #8 x 1" self tap screw to attach them together.

The result? Satisfaction.

Owh, and at first it was supposed to become like a box section, but ended with L shaped. Reason? We found this while googling about bed sheets.

So we wanted a backlight too…hehehe

Painting MDF

The first thing about painting MDF is – its difficult…! I almost changed my mind on this whole project just because I failed to paint them. I knew I had to have those primers layed on first but, again, I thought a couple layers of spray paint could’ve done the job. Plus, the closest hardware shop to my home was only selling those expensive-industrial ones (5liters), so I figured; I could just dish them off. I’ve wasted 10 SPRAYING CANS (1 can = RM7.80) as MDF will just suck all the paint in (because of the properties of the board itself) while actually, with a good primer, i could’ve just need 3 cans. So, ya…I know. When I read the guide in the net again, I felt like people were saying “we told you so…”. So, ok…*sigh*

How did I paint them – finally:

1. Used Latex Emulsion paint as a primer. Worked wonders! (I’ve found out from a forum that this could work. I had two 18Liters leftovers white paint from my previous paint job, its more than enough)
2. Sand 80-Grit, 120-Grit thru to 240-grit with my newly purchased sanding disc attachment which is attached to my cordless drill. The effort spent to sand = speechless. Such an ease to do them…Bought them from ACE Hardware – BOSCH.
3. Further fill any uneven areas with wood fillers. Wait till dry about an hour.
4. Sand with 240-Grit
5. Spray paint about 3 layers with each layers left about an hour before applying the next layer and sand with 240-Grit in between.

Finally, painting is done. Phew!!