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Old 02-01-2017, 01:39 PM   #1
tortoiseolly
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Default Tortoise Table Material

Good afternoon everyone

Was after some opinions over best wood to use for building tables out,

my options so far are

MDF,
Hardwood Plywood or
Structural Plywood

any of these suitable?
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:16 PM   #2
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Don't use mdf as it will fall apart and has a lot of harmful glues in it.
It all depends on the size of the table you are looking at making it bigger the better if for a baby you can divide it up.
I would go for a good quality plywood for the base which you can treat with yaht varnish or I use a piece of linoleum off cuts are cheap enough and I use timber for the sides making it high enough for any escape plans and you can even use plywood if you have enough left over most b+q stores have a sheet cutting service so if you plan all your cuts first for a few pounds it's worth it.
Also you need to think about where and how you are going to put your lighting in.
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:25 PM   #3
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made 4 before, used chipboard, but going bigger this time, and wasnt too keen on the chipboard,
so will probably go plywood then if MDF is no good
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Old 09-01-2017, 09:09 PM   #4
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I agree with thick plywood. My large bunk bed setup is made from thick plywood with decent pine used for the corner posts etc.

For the bases I fixed lino tiles down on top of the ply which was a lot of work and I wouldn't do that again. Sheet lino would have been so much easier.

As already said mdf has bad stuff like formaldehyde in it. I think ply has glue on it as well but not to the same extent. Also the thick ply is really tough and isn't going to break up so the chemicals don't leak out.
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Old 15-01-2017, 05:54 PM   #5
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Our tables have thick plywood bases, pine timber sides and legs and Lino off-cuts on the base. Nice little lips all around the top too to prevent any escapees.
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Old 15-01-2017, 07:57 PM   #6
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im loving the plant trays - all different shapes and sizes, 4 pieces of wood round them and bobs your uncle ! I have placed two together for an even bigger area and the torts love climbing over the middle bit ...so hygienic and can bath the larger torts in them outside in summer - easily removable and the trays stack up..good hearing different ideas from everyone, thank-you CB
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