Melamine?

[Gary Liming]

Not sure where this post should go, but does anyone remember melamine? The one I remember used to have a hard plastic surface that would either be on one or both sides of a sheet of particle board. Now the "melamine" that I see in big box stores (I checked Home Depot, Lowes and Menards) just sells particle board with what looks like that vinyl shelf covering on it - it is soft, thin, and easily scratched. There is also white hardboard, but that's just 1/4 inch (or less) masonite painted with a slightly thicker than normal white paint.
Is the only way to get melamine now is to buy a sheet of countertop laminate and glue it yourself, or did I overlook something?

[Matt Day]

The big box stores have crap Melamine. Buy from a real lumber yard / cabinet shop supplier. Besides the flaws you mentioned, the particle board from the BORG is very porous. When it comes to sheet goods, don’t buy anything from them.

[Chuck Nickerson]

It's not just you. Over the last two years the product sold a melamine has changed for the worse.
I use it to make glue-up jigs for our club's toy production. It's now little better than raw wood.

[John TenEyck]

I can still buy good real Melamine at my local HD, as good as from my local lumber yard.

[Peter Kelly]

You might have been looking at marker board, not melamine-clad particleboard. With Home Depot at least, lumber and board products all vary regionally by store. The two locations by my house carry Colombia Pure Bond birch, maple and oak in 3/4" and some 1/2" & 1/4". Quality is good and not terribly different from what I can get from Connecticut Plywood.

[Edwin Santos]

I understand there to be two kinds of melamine. My HD sells the lower quality cold rolled type. My lumber supplier stocks the high quality thermofused type in a variety of colors.
I feel the thermofused also has a higher quality substrate, denser particle board.
Edwin

[John Blazy]

I understand there to be two kinds of melamine. My HD sells the lower quality cold rolled type. My lumber supplier stocks the high quality thermofused type in a variety of colors.
I feel the thermofused also has a higher quality substrate, denser particle board.
Edwin

Been using Thermoset melamine for 30 years, and the key word here is thermofused. Otherwise its cold lam crap. I have accts at DSI and other cabinet supply houses for the best quality / variety, and was surprised to see thermofused melamine at the big box stores ten or more years ago. The nice part about getting thermofused melamine at plywood companies is that they sell all kinds of cool patterns and colors that look like corian. Great for cabinet interiors to save $ so you can do solid wood FF's and doors.

[Peter Kelly]

I understand there to be two kinds of melamine. My HD sells the lower quality cold rolled type. My lumber supplier stocks the high quality thermofused type in a variety of colors.
I feel the thermofused also has a higher quality substrate, denser particle board.
Edwin

Much like plywood, there's loads of different grades of top sheets and particleboard cores out there. Ikea even has their own proprietary methods for production.

[Philipp Jaindl]

Sounds like you're looking for HPL (High Pressure Laminate), you can either buy a sheet of that and glue it on a backer yourself if you have a press, go to your local Cabinetmaker and buy a good quality laminated Particleboard from them, or if you need large quantities from any Industry Supplier.

[Nick Shattuck]

My local HD just stopped stocking the 8'x4' melamine sheets in the past couple of months. It's a shame because my melamine-topped glue-up and finishing table seems impervious to just about anything. Nothing sticks to it and it will look brand new if rubbed with melamine foam (Magic Eraser material) and water.