Buying Pre Lacquered MDF Safe?

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Hi there,

I live in Switzerland and obtaining Laser Grade materials is almost impossible. I have worked out that Proofgrade is essentially MDF with a Vaneer on top (is that right?)

I have found that MDF just soaks up paint and its impossible to make signs. I have found that my local hardware store sells MDF with a white lacquer on top which I assume would make it easy to paint with Acrylic paint. Does anyone else do this? Is this safe or are the toxins from the lacquer bad?

The Wood I Saw

Also looks like this one is similar to Proofgrade but it says “Foiled wood”, not sure what that means?

Foiled Wood

Thank you

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I don’t know what they are made of; most items I’ve bought from lumberyards have been safe as long as it didn’t have vinyl, like fake wood flooring is not good. See if you can find what it’s made of.

The first one looks like what alot of people call white board. I don’t know what yours is made of, but a lot of people, including myself, have had success engraving and cutting whiteboard.

The second looks like veneered plywood. The medium and thick proofgrade, and also most of the plywood i have worked with in the US, are mdf with veneer on either one or both sides.

If you’re trying to paint these, you would have better luck if they are unfinished. If you have struggles with mdf, i would spray a layer of shellac or clear coat first to prevent the paint from soaking in, then paint it. I used to make alot of signs with mdf. I’d shellac or clearcoat first (a thin coat), then spray paint.

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I would look about for Finnish Baltic Birch which is made by strict rules or other plywood without MDF. If you are using a filter, MDF will fill the filter in hours, and even with outside exhaust is still extremely dirty. It is also much weaker and heavier than actual plywood.

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I sometimes coat MDF with sanding sealer before I paint it to reduce the soaking up of paint.

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So you mention that the MDF is very dirty but is the middle of the proofgrade stuff that has vaneer on it also not just MDF? It looks like the Cherry Wood, Walnut etc… are all just vaneers with a MDF centre

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Actually, most plywood has no MDF, but instead has layers of the same or a less expensive material. Sometimes as many as 5 or 7 layers with the grain perpendicular to the layers above or below, which is why they are so much stronger and more stable.

The less expensive parts of the tree have more knots of course and this creates other issues. Baltic Birch has rules against this, but it is a common issue otherwise, either harder to cut or worse, filled with material that is laserproof. But you need to study each source. For some, the price and few enough bad bits make it worth it at least as trial designs, others are worth the premium. I have some wood varieties that I have not yet come up with a design worthy of them.

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So what is the Proofgrade stuff made of these? I mean the core between the two Vaneer outer layers

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It’s mdf. But for magical reasons beyond my understanding, it’s so much cleaner to cut than regular mdf. I used to cut a ton of mdf for a client. I would have to stop frequently to clean the optics and rails of machine during an order. Sometimes, depending on the batch of mdf, i would need to clean the air assist fan every hour or so.

But when cutting the veneered wood, like maple or walnut plywood, the machine wouldn’t get dirty as fast… like instead of cleaning every 30 minutes-1 hour, i could go a few days without much build-up. Baltic birch cut very clean too, that one does not have mdf core.

The light plywood proofgrade also does not have mdf core. Only the medium and thick.

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After googling it, looks like the mdf is coated with a paper that is made to look like wood, then coated with lacquer.

This is from the Yodean website. I’d check with the manufacturer you’re looking to buy from to see if they use non-vinyl materials also:

Foil finish is an abbreviation of foil finish decorative paper used on the surface of the fibred-board, with a lacquer-coated surface that is colored or printed on. The foil finish is made of high-grade PU lacquers, acrylic resins, base paper and curing agent for yellow color adjustment. Mainly used for decorating the surface of the wood-based panel, MDF, plywood, fiberboard, plastic board, etc.

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Medium has MDF. Light and Thick have, I believe, Poplar cores.

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The thick walnut I had had an MDF core, but it was lighter/less dense than the medium. But I bought it years ago, so maybe it changed.

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When Light came out I mentioned that I avoided PG as I did not want MDF and dan mentioned that thick was not MDF. When I got my delivery of light maple, I also thought it was medium as it looked like MDF and I was expecting it to be a lot thinner. So I know it is easy to make that mistake, especially as you noticed it was less dense. It was probably the same Poplar? Basswood? core.

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Hi @remigi ! Where in CH are you? I am in Basel. Do you have a migro do it yourself near you? They may have something. You are correct getting material here can be challenging.

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@CMadok so I guess its probably not safe to cut then? I asked in the store and they were not able to give me any info at all.

While I was there I happened to also see this but it looks like MDF coated in laminate.

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The reason for these questions is that it is almost impossible to get Laser stuff here in Switzerland. They have a ton in Germany or Austria but Switzerland has an import limit of $65 (franks… about the same). Anything over that we need to pay 7.7% tax plus a fee for how much it weighs… its ridiculous. Trotec have material but their shipping cost is $39 and their sizes are 600x300, which I guess with the passthrough slot on my pro I could shorten but its still annoying - and expensive.

The hardware stores have a lot of poplar wood (that hobby wood stuff) but that burns really easily and for name signs; which I make; the wood just soaks up the paint, even with a proper sealer. Then there is plywood but its made up of quite a few layers and for some reason the glue is terrible, every time I cut it the edges are burt black and the stuff goes all over my fingers, basically like you are taking wood out of a fireplace.

So at the moment, a simply name sign takes me about 4-5 goes (2-3 hours) to get the settings right because every piece of wood is different and I need to test the settings multiple times. One day I got so fed up, I wrote to my Etsy customer and asked if it was ok to just print on Cherry wood and I used my last piece of Proofgrade I got with the machine. Took less than 10 mins, printed perfectly with 0 burn.

Here is an example of some plywood I got off Amazon, Simply 2.3mm sheets A4 size, so way to small. Same thing again, quality is just not there and cost is too high.

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So hence my constant quest to find something that works. Our stores, Hornbach, Jumbo, Do-it Hobby and Obi all have terrible stuff.

This is Hornbach plywood

You can see from the Jumbo plywood how many layers of glue it has.

Sorry about the complaints but its getting so bad I am considering selling the machine.

@MakerMatthew I am in Zug. I have tried the migros stuff, its just very hit and miss.

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When i got my light plywood, the core was visibly different than the medium, which is what i mostly use. After cutting it was also a different color.
The core looked more like what i would find in baltic birch.

My thick walnut had a solid core that looked just like mdf, but the board itself was much lighter than the medium plywood (And easy to cut through). But you’re right, the description says hardwood core for light and thick, so it must just look like mdf. Even the photo in the shop of it cut looks like mdf to me.

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@remigi you might have luck with the white board. I don’t know how that one would look, you can test a small piece, but this is how mine looked. The engrave was a very solid dark brown that didn’t fade over the course of a few years. We still have that sign. I didn’t seal it or paint it and it hung in our hot garage since that post.

Also, i don’t know about the foiled wood. From what i read it seems like it’s printed paper and coated with polyurethane.

Do you have a local cabinet maker or lumber yard? Cabinet makers often use woods and veneers that are nice to cut and engrave. They may have scraps you can try too.

I’m in Japan now, and although i am still waiting for my glowforge to be delivered, i found lots of wood and mdf to cut here from my local tool shop. The wood is veneered plywood. The mdf looks like what i but in the US, except them even have thinner sizes like 1.5 and 2mm. I only bought proofgrade products to use for designing catalog files.

If mdf is what you have, you can add veneer yourself and seal it too. But if you just want to paint it, I’d follow some of the suggestions above on how to make it absorb less paint. Or you can look for hardboard-it’s mdf, but finished so it is smooth. The paint doesn’t soak in as much, but depending on the manufacturer, it might be harder to cut through.

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Since 19x5 is 95 and 4x1/4" makes the total 96" or 8 ft, I get 4’ x 8’ wood cut 5 ways so I can slide in as much as I need and use it more efficiently. I don’t have my metric converter handy but the widest wood that will fit through the passthrough is 20" but the widest you can cut is a bit over 19". I often buy 18"x 24" material as the 18" will fit the passthrough even though the 24" will not.

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