Table Top Veneer Help

[Robert Engel]

Yes, laminate is not cheap!! And I dont think you need it, either. A dropped chisel, an oversaw with a Japanese saw, amd the slip factor.

I’ve used melamine for outfeed table & was surprised by its durability. There is another product called Panolam maybe that’s available to you.

When I built my first assembly table, I made a base of 3/4 MDF and screwed down a sheet of 1/4” hardboard, then rimmed it with a border. I did replace it once, used the old one as a template.

If you put a couple coats of floor polyurethane on, you’ve got a pretty good surface glue won’t stick.

[Derek Arita]

Again, sorry for sounding dense. So first, I lay on the all four edges and flush trim those. After that, I lay on the top, flush trim to the edge, then chamfer that edge?

[Jim Becker]

Again, sorry for sounding dense. So first, I lay on the all four edges and flush trim those. After that, I lay on the top, flush trim to the edge, then chamfer that edge?

Correct. Edges, trim, top, trim, chamfer

[Alan Lightstone]

I used exactly that laminate approach for my outfeed table, which gets its fair share of abuse. Still looks great, has held up well.

[Steve Fish]

Apologies for the delay Derek. I don’t do much work with formica. But since nobody else has replied, I set my substrate on painters triangles and glue the top and bottom at the same time which helps prevent a taco effect. Two coats of wilsonart on the substrate and one on the laminate. Then trim and do the edges. I’ve seen some YouTube guys pushing it down with a block of wood but I think a j-roller working from the center out gets better results. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Gordon Stump]

All my work benches are skinned with 1/8" tempered Masonite. That is a brand, hard board it what I call it. The "temper" is basically oil so it is water resistant. The backside is textured and not flat so you cannot really flip it. The finishing table is looking pretty bad. I will pry up a corner and spray in acetone to pull it up. Then copy it with a flush trump bit and glue it. Probably spray 3m spray adhesive. This is nothing new really. Lots of shops use Masonite or tempered hardboard. I do use white 3/4" melamine sheeting for out feed tables.

[Derek Arita]

Just wanted to follow up. Thank you for all your help. I finally got the table top done. It's not perfect, but it was a learning experience. Now I know how hard formica really is. If I ever do formica work again, I'll buy one of those expensive formica strip cutters for sure. Also, when I got to trimming, I realized I didn't have a bottom bearing flush bit, so now I do and it worked great. I've only got 1 small chip on one side, which I can hopefully patch. Too bad they don't make formica table saw blades. Thanks again!

[Mark Bolton]

Just wanted to follow up. Thank you for all your help. I finally got the table top done. It's not perfect, but it was a learning experience. Now I know how hard formica really is. If I ever do formica work again, I'll buy one of those expensive formica strip cutters for sure. Also, when I got to trimming, I realized I didn't have a bottom bearing flush bit, so now I do and it worked great. I've only got 1 small chip on one side, which I can hopefully patch. Too bad they don't make formica table saw blades. Thanks again!

Look up seam-fil, you can get it on amazon if you need to fill a chip. It will never be perfect but its your best bet for a solid fill/chip repair

Nice work. Looks a hell of a lot better than tempered hardboard lol. Far from the top I thought you were trying for.

[Alan Lightstone]

Too bad they don't make formica table saw blades.

They do. I have a Freud one, but other manufacturers make them too.

[Derek Arita]

Look up seam-fil, you can get it on amazon if you need to fill a chip. It will never be perfect but its your best bet for a solid fill/chip repair

Nice work. Looks a hell of a lot better than tempered hardboard lol. Far from the top I thought you were trying for.

Thanks Mark. It's a small chip and Seamfil should work perfectly, so I'll order some.

[andrew whicker]

hardboard for $15, ha!


Without a good press, I don't see how you are going to get the hardboard to lay flat. I've attached a hardboard with screws in an attempt for flatness.... it never really works as well as you think it will. I've done it twice now.. once as a newb and once as more experienced and it didn't seem that more knowledge did a lot of good. I would use my vacuum press at this point.

I haven't messed w/ laminate yet, but the videos don't look hard to apply and I see people applying w/o a press. If you were able to start over, I'd say buy a non textured left over / end of run sheet of particle board melamine from a cabinet shop.

Edit:

Just saw you laminated already. This website forums are hard to decipher sometimes. Looks good, cheers!

[Jim Becker]

Any formica I've used, I've cut with the table saw without any kind of special blade...

[Derek Arita]

Any formica I've used, I've cut with the table saw without any kind of special blade...

Thanks Jim. I actually deleted the question here and started a new thread. Wish I knew that before I cut the formica the hard way. Live and learn...

[Mark Bolton]

hardboard for $15, ha!


Without a good press, I don't see how you are going to get the hardboard to lay flat. I've attached a hardboard with screws in an attempt for flatness.... it never really works as well as you think it will. I've done it twice now.. once as a newb and once as more experienced and it didn't seem that more knowledge did a lot of good. I would use my vacuum press at this point.

I haven't messed w/ laminate yet, but the videos don't look hard to apply and I see people applying w/o a press. If you were able to start over, I'd say buy a non textured left over / end of run sheet of particle board melamine from a cabinet shop.

Edit:

Just saw you laminated already. This website forums are hard to decipher sometimes. Looks good, cheers!

Ive used hardboard a million times and its $15 here, lays dead flat. If you want an easily removable/refreshable surface stick it down with Fastedge double stick tape. Its just glue, no thickness, holds well, can peel it up at will.