How My Wooden Items are Made

Wooden plaques and other items are made with either solid wood, such as pine, or Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) which is a material recycled from wood dust. I enjoy working with MDF because of its uniformity. It's available in several thickness and accepts glue, nails, screws and dowels very well. It's good use of the wood dust that's created when wood is cut. It can be used for art instead of puting it into the environment.

"MDF starts as sawdust and shavings—all the little bits and pieces of wood that are created as a byproduct of industrial milling. Once dehydrated, those wood fibers are then mixed with resin and wax and formed into panels. Under high heat and intense pressure, those panels are compressed and become rigid, with a hard shell. In the final stage of manufacturing, giant machines sand the panels down, giving them a silky smooth finish before cutting them to fixed dimensions." Steven Fox and Bob Vila

A decorative plaque like the one of the right is made with thin MDF. I used a photo to make the required shape. The frame is wood. There are two layers of MDF, the sillouette and the blue background.