Premade laminate countertops for a router table...

[Michael Donahue]

At my local borg there are always premade coutertops for sale, often with some damage so the price is pretty cheap. They're 1"+ thick particle board and formica and I could always cut off the backsplash and what not if the price was low enough.

Would something like this work OK as a router table top? I honestly can't say I've checked them for flatness by any means other than a quick straightedge, but they seem pretty flat and stable. I figure the formica would also be pretty slick and a little nicer looking than melamine.

Is it worth checking out do you think?

[Bob Genovesi]

Personally, I think it would work out fine and so no reason why you wouldn't want to make use of it especially at a great price.

[Jim O'Dell]

How much is pretty cheap? And could you find some matching Plastic Laminate to finish the edges, or would you use a hard wood? The main problem I would see is they are all about 24" deep. If you cut off the cove part back splash and the bull nose front edge treatment most of those have, you would be about 21 - 21 1/2". Is that big enough for your router table? Or if still around 50.00 or so, a sheet of 3/4" MDF and a sheet of plastic laminate would be in the 65.00 range plus glue. You could double the MDF for the top and be at 1 1/2" thick and have some left over. If you shop the counter top people for left over pieces of laminate that you could get cheap, you would come out even better, and have the table the size you would prefer. Just a few things to think about. Jim.

[Dick Strauss]

I found a white 6' laminate countertop with backsplash for $15 on closeout a few years ago. It is now the top to my stained glass workbench.

[Julian Wong]

MIchael, If you have fluctuations in humidity where you live, I would stay away from this laminate countetop unless you plan to laminate or seal tbe bottom somehow with something that is impermeable to moisture.

Ovetime, the particle board will absprb moisture and it will swell or shrink depending on local humidity, and will cause the board to cup.

[Phil Thien]

+1 what Julian says.

The sink "cutouts" at HOBO fluctuate from pretty flat in winter to being candy bowls in the summer. That is because in summer the humidity rises and swells the untreated particle board bottom. It expands, while the top is prevented from expanding by the laminate.

[Michael Donahue]

Thanks for the input folks!

By cheap, I've seen some 4' sections for as little as $10.

As you said Jim, they are 24" deep so I could probably get it to about 20-21" once I cut of the backsplash and bullnose, and then I'd reclaim a bit of that size when I edge it (thinking of just using some oak). That's not much smaller than many commercial router tables that I've seen.

I hadn't thought about the particleboard moving much though. Could I seal the bottom with paint or Drylock even to keep moisture from getting in there?

[Rick Gooden]

Michael,

I just went to the BORG and measured a countertop, it was 24" to the bullnose. If you cut the bullnose and the splash off you would wind up with 23 1/4" (give or take). If you do a hardwood edge around it you wind up with 24+". I believe that if you used something like GF Seal a Cell on the bottom it would take care of any of the potential moisture problems. Your thread got me interested in possibly using one for an outfeed for the ts.

[Michael Donahue]

Michael,

I just went to the BORG and measured a countertop, it was 24" to the bullnose. If you cut the bullnose and the splash off you would wind up with 23 1/4" (give or take). If you do a hardwood edge around it you wind up with 24+". I believe that if you used something like GF Seal a Cell on the bottom it would take care of any of the potential moisture problems. Your thread got me interested in possibly using one for an outfeed for the ts.

I hadn't actually measured the countertop, I just new they sold them as 24" deep. That's very promising. Thanks Rick.

[Ed Peters]

why not just get two and laminate them to each other. Partical board to partical board and really get a solid work surface. They would then effectively seal each other from the environment. Another thought is to cut the lower piece undersize and let it sit down into your router cabinet (assuming there will be one) as a plug. Using a few screws into each side to hold it in place makes it easy to remove if necessary (for improvements or modifications).

Ed

[Anthony Whitesell]

Be cautious. I have a laminate counter top work bench against one wall and although it's flat across most of the surface, it raises up just before the bullnose edge to form a kind-of drip gaurd to keep spills on the counter and off the floor. I would place a straight edge from front to back to make sure this counter top does have that "feature".