Originally Posted by
Steve Engelschall
I favor Choice 2 (Laminate over MDF). That's what I did. I felt plywood might warp/twist a bit over time. And I think melamine, while nice and slippery, gets chips and nicks too easily since it is paper-thin. You can literally pick the melamine off at an edge with your fingernail.
I sandwiched 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF and covered it on all sides/edges with laminate. It's very heavy, and if I had it to do over again I might consider using a single piece of 3/4" MDF. It's a tradeoff between rigidity and weight. If your outfeed table is perhaps 2 feet deep, a double layer of MDF is OK. But if it's 3 or 4 feet deep, it gets really heavy.