Mitre Saw Station Top Material

[Len Rosenberg]

Looking for advice on best material to use for the top of a mitre saw station I'm building. The top will be 30" deep, 52" long on the left of the saw and 18" long to the right. The base cabinets will be made of 3/4" plywood.

The top will be made of two layers of 3/4" material. Wondering if best material for top layer is phenolic plywood, and whether I should use mdf for bottom layer. Other options for the top are laminate covered mdf, or even just plain mdf finished with poly or other coating. For the bottom layer is mdf better to use than plywood?

Thanks for any info!

Len

[Brian Tymchak]

I used laminate over 3/4 ply. I figured mdf would be a bit too soft if I loaded some heavy boards on it. The laminate will provide some resistance to scuffs.

[Larry Frank]

For something like that, I use 1/4" MDF and finish it with shellac. It is cheap, works well and easy to replace. Almost all of my work surfaces are made that way.

[Marc Burt]

I just used white Formica over plywood.

[Robert Engel]

Mine is just MDF coated with BLO.

[Jamie Buxton]

Phenolic faced plywood is pretty rare stuff, and expensive. That phenolic face is the same stuff as formica. So you can get the same effect for a lower price by using formica over conventional plywood.
That said, I'd make the whole thing from 3/4 ACX plywood, without any finish. This is a shop thing you're making, not a piano.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Anyone know a good source for laminate of a reasonable thickness? The formica I've seen available is very thin.

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Anyone know a good source for laminate of a reasonable thickness? The formica I've seen available is very thin.

Standard formica is of reasonable thickness for this use. The Home Depot and Lowes in my area have some in stock, if you don't care about pattern and color and such.