Timeline for Desktop case design: Which one should I do first for mold and heat resistance, epoxy resin or varnish?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
28 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 12, 2022 at 16:27 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | I should have pointed this out earlier too, but when I say "mold", I mean "Powdery mildew". | |
| Sep 12, 2022 at 16:25 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | exactly, that's why I wanted to know in advance which one I should do first when I use both, to increase the probability of having mold growing @gnicko | |
| Sep 12, 2022 at 16:21 | comment | added | gnicko | If there's mold growing inside your computer case you have bigger problems than the case finish. | |
| Sep 4, 2022 at 19:56 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | yeah, I see what you mean. Even though my choice of using MDF was because of how cheap it is compared to other materials (eg: aluminum, etc), I still want to save money, so I plan on making more simulations, measurements, and looking up what people do in x,y,z, etc. I guess I might ask on other forums at some point, but for now, I think using common sense and a lot of personal research should yield some decent results :D appreciate the recommendation. @Graphus | |
| Sep 4, 2022 at 19:30 | comment | added | Graphus | I just meant any of the existing woodworking forums out there online, since the standard threaded forum (or the Reddit 'equivalent') is much better geared to asking a question and then going off on a few different tangents simultaneously as the discussion flows. Because of the unknown level of competence/knowledge of the people who'll respond I regret to say that you definitely do still have to do your due diligence (bootstrap yourself) so you don't build houses of cards based on any of a number of poorly understood concepts or outright myths, surprisingly widespread even with the Internet :-( | |
| Sep 3, 2022 at 19:45 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | sorry for not adding those details earlier on :) I really thought this would be questioned more than it was, so I'm glad this wasn't too harshly received (although I guess the score on this question kind of gives another impression). Ah, you got me for 1, and 2. I want to say for 3. too but there isn't enough space to go into details as you said...btw, can you give more details on those other "forums"? @Graphus | |
| Sep 3, 2022 at 18:40 | comment | added | Graphus | So, since oil-based polyurethane can withstand the typical temps in a working kitchen — way higher than your quoted figures for inside temps (and far more challenging due to the high humidity) and still give a working life well in excess (honestly, maybe triple or more!) of what I bet your answer to no. 3 is.... | |
| Sep 3, 2022 at 18:37 | comment | added | Graphus | Your edit ads some interesting details that I wish we could get into more easily here but obviously there's limited scope for that on SE. [If you want to get a better picture of this I recommend posting about your project on one of the forums] So in short: 1, this will naturally go away in time all on its own! 2, why does this matter inside the case where you normally aren't looking?? 3. What's your expectation for how long you'll want to hold on to this case before you want to replace it for something cooler/better, or just new? Based on my experience of custom PCs I bet it's not 10 years! | |
| Sep 3, 2022 at 11:00 | history | edited | Nordine Lotfi | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
hopefully better title
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| Sep 2, 2022 at 17:36 | vote | accept | Nordine Lotfi | ||
| Sep 2, 2022 at 17:18 | answer | added | FreeMan | timeline score: 3 | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:39 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | so you're saying that I don't necessarily need both, and that either of them will suffice for what I described above? I mean I would understand for the resin, but I thought the varnish would deteriorate faster under constant heat compared to epoxy? (I might be just misunderstanding, so feel free to correct me) @FreeMan | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:36 | comment | added | FreeMan | I'm not aware of mold on MDF being an issue, but it may be in your locale. I'm not aware of either epoxy coated or PU coated items molding, either, indicating that either should suffice to prevent mold. I believe that both would be sufficiently heat resistant enough to stand up to your design criteria. Therefore, I don't understand why you want to do both. However, it's your project, so carry on. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:33 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | @FreeMan re benefit: I already detailed the reason and benefit for both of the coatings. It's just that I'm unsure which one I should use first, or if there better alternative. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:30 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi |
@FreeMan re cooling: yes, I did said in my updated post even with good cooling, a desktop case can have roughly 20-30°C in temp, and more under heavy loads. :D I monitor temps all the time so I know rough estimate based on the workload and what not
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| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:28 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | this isn't falling into an opinion-based question: someone asked me the "why" even though I knew what would happen, so here it is :) if the "why" is opinionated, the question itself taken out of context isn't technically @FreeMan | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:24 | comment | added | FreeMan | That said, I can't fathom what benefits you'd get from using both epoxy and polyurethane. Get products that will support your expected temps (likely that common formulas of both will do just fine, even in a constant air temp of 40°C), apply some to some sample pieces and decide which you prefer. I think this falls into an opinion-based question which is off topic here. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 16:21 | comment | added | FreeMan | "this is for a desktop case" - is this a desktop computer case you're building? Internal case temps can get much higher than 30°C. My CPU can be in the 40s and occasional disk temps can peak near 50°C. Good airflow helps, and the lower the temps the better, but be sure to adjust your expectations. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 14:20 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | I didn't want to mention the "why", since I thought I would be mocked :P updated my post @Graphus | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 14:19 | history | edited | Nordine Lotfi | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
more details about the "why"
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| Sep 2, 2022 at 14:10 | review | Close votes | |||
| Sep 25, 2022 at 3:05 | |||||
| Sep 2, 2022 at 13:52 | comment | added | Graphus | @AloysiusDefenestrate, are you saying epoxy first because it would penetrate deeper than varnish, or it would because it's the first thing applied? Obviously yes if it's the second thing to go on (penetration could be effectively zero if applied over even a thin coating of varnish if that fully wets the surface) :-) | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 13:46 | comment | added | Graphus | Since you mention coats and you're concerned with order presumably the epoxy isn't being used as a filler so this prompts the first question, why?? The bottom line here is that often there's no point in combining two clear finishes, so there really needs to be a good reason (e.g. big difference in drying time or build). "Any ideas or recommendations?" What is it you're trying to achieve? You haven't actually said what the end goal is here. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 12:28 | comment | added | Nordine Lotfi | I see :) I did plan on still making experiments with 1. varnish only, 2. epoxy, 3. both on small pieces of MDF to see how they would hold/look like, but still wanted to know in advance (aware it could swell/make the wood thicker but that's not an issue on my end) @AloysiusDefenestrate | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 12:11 | comment | added | Aloysius Defenestrate | Intuition would have me do the resin first (deeper penetration), but that might swell the mdf. So do a test, make sure it works, and then see how the varnish bonds to the epoxy. | |
| Sep 2, 2022 at 8:23 | history | edited | Nordine Lotfi | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added details
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| S Sep 2, 2022 at 8:16 | review | First questions | |||
| Sep 2, 2022 at 17:36 | |||||
| S Sep 2, 2022 at 8:16 | history | asked | Nordine Lotfi | CC BY-SA 4.0 |