Formica alternative - will this work?

[Walter]

I am building a router table top and had planned on using Formica for surfacing the top and bottom. That is until I saw the $43 price tag on a sheet of Formica! That's a lot to pay for a sheet of material I only need about of a third of for my project. The only thing I found close at Lowes was some wall board that appears to be hardboard with a white plastic coating. 1/8" thick. Will I regret trying to substitue this for Formica? I didn't see any other types of laminate. I plan to attach this stuff with contact cement and flush trim the edges.

Thanks for any input.

-Walter

[RayV]

I would be concerned about the exposed edges where you make the cutout for the insert. Won't take long before it starts to get fuzzy and swell up.

[Charlie M. 1958]

I don't think that will hold up well long-term. Keep looking around.... some places sell partial sheets of formica. You might also check with a countertop fabricator in your area. They should be able to sell you a piece left over from a job.

[RayV]

I think Home Depot sells 1/2 or 1/4 sheets. I remember buying some for a project and didn't have to buy a 4x8 sheet.

[Leon]

Check with a Formica/ plastic laminate supplier and ask if they have any damaged pieces. I have paid as little as 35 cents per sq. foot for a full sheet with a chipped corner.

[Leon]

Or check somewhere else. 4x8 is not "the" standard size for Formica. I have bought it in 26" widths 10' long. It is available in a lot of standard sizes.

[Chris Friesen]

Try going to a shop that makes counters. I went to one and they gave me some old pieces with out-of-date patterns on them that nobody wanted.

Chris

[J. Clarke]

Home Despot uset to carry cut sheets of laminate for a reasonable price, but they seem to have discontinued this for some reason, at least locally. Might want to check.

Beyond that there are a couple of online options.

McMaster has a whole range of laminates intended for industrial use--I doubt you'll save much over buying a sheet of Formica though. They've got a sampler (5331K3) for $18.52.

Woodcraft carries 3/4 inch phenolic-faced plywood in 2'x4' sheets for about 40 bucks. Rockler uses the same stuff for their $600 router table tops. The stuff is known as "PSF" and is intended for use as concrete forms--you can probably find it locally but getting it in single-sheet quantities might be problematical.

[Chris Friesen]

I made my router table top two years ago with laminated MDF and plywood. While it is true that the MDF is a bit fuzzy, it hasn't swollen up yet.

I do live in a fairly dry area, so maybe if you're in somewhere a bit more humid it could be a problem.

Chris

[Robatoy]

That is a good suggestion. Make sure you ask for GP, not the post-form grade. A few years ago, I bought 100 sheets at $8.00ea. Many of the discontinued colours were fugly. Many were nice enough to sell at a healthy profit. All the fuglies were used as backer sheets. In retrospect, that was a gloat. Colours are discontinued all the time. Call your local distributor of Arborite, Wilsonart, Formica, Nevamar.

[Mike]

What I did was go to a local cabinet shop and they gave me some scrap pieces of formica. Had more then enough for the router table top. Mike

[Leuf]

I just got in my mcmaster order a few minutes ago. I got some of the Garolite XX, in 24"x36"x1/32" sheets for about 10 bucks a sheet. It's pretty shiny on both sides so I'm not sure how gluing is going to go, I plan to rough it up first. It's a medium reddish brown color.

Depending on the size of your top, probably not worth it unless you are ordering other stuff from them. They have a really good price on link belts and I picked up some 8 oz press fit cans for transfering finishes to, among other stuff.

-Leuf

[Greg O]

Call a couple counter top installers and see if you can get a hold of a couple kitchen sink cut outs. That is what my router table top is made out of. The best part, cost to me, nothing! Greg

[Lou]

Find a Habitat for Humanity store and get a used piece of counter top for a couple of bucks Lou

[Walter]

"Greg O" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks all you guys for the suggestions! What a helpful group!

I think I will try to find some scraps somewhere, even if they are fugly. If that doesn't work out,I will try some of the online suggestions.

Thanks again!

-Walter (wood butcher in training)

[Ron Truitt]

IF the table you are building is of the right size, you might consider building it out of pieces of an old countertop that is being ditched in a remodel job. I've reused some of these that were still in great shape.

Ron T

[kilnhead]

I used 3/4 mdf for my top without anything else. Work's fine. I did put a little wax on it.

[WD]

He might try to find a suitable Onyx's counter top or rectangular top slab at Habitat stores. Before we moved last year I bought a new unused slab at Kansas City's Habitat stores for $10 and sold it for $15 at a moving sale. I was planning to use it for a new router's table, but decide that it was too much a hassle to bring it along.

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