Formica laminate - where to buy?

[Routermonster]

Hi All

I'm thinking about building a new 800x600 mm router table top from 2 layers of MDF, edged with oak, and clad top and bottom with Formica or other laminate sheeting. Does anyone know where I can buy Formica? I've looked online and the few sites I've visited seem to be trade-only places.

I know that some of you, e.g. Motown Martin and Lord Nibbo, have bought fireback (?) sheets from B&Q, but hey're listed at £40 per 900 mm square sheet. Assuming I have to clad the table top and bottom this method is starting to look expensive. Factor in the cost of MDF, plus the labour involved, and it makes buying a new table look attractive.

Thanks for your help.

Les

 

[The Bear]

I bought a 10x4 sheet from Arnold Laver if you have a branch nearby.

Mark

 

[Steve Jones]

Don't know exactly where you are Les but there's an Arnold Laver in Kidderminster not too far from Paskins

Steve

 

[Charlie Woody]

Hi Les

Funny you should say this as I was looking for some to make a drill table and also could not find any. Just looked up Arnold Laver but they don't have any branches in Devon. Does anybody know of suppliers in Devon please? (Les sorry to hijack your post)

 

[tomatwark]

I got my last sheet from this company.

http://www.idsurfaces.co.uk/findus.aspx

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

if you fancy a trip to birmingham by the villa ground, i have some you can have. if not try bgn boards, or blackheath products.

 

[geertswaans]

idsurfaces is a good place for this. Or why not use wetwall instead? Starting at 50,- for a 4x8 sheet you can do it three layers thick to get you the desired thickness. Tradepoint sell wetwall.

 

[paulm]

A few years back I had the same problem finding anybody who stocks it and sells non-trade, ended up ordering it at my local builders merchants, Jewsons I think, and they ordered it in for me, cost around £40 a few years ago, for a 10'x4' sheet, came rolled up for easy handling. That was plenty for both sides of the top, fences etc and some spare.

Cheers, Paul

 

[halken]

when i built my table i bought the formica from homebase £7.99 for 4ft x 2ft sheet and its pretty substantial, i recently covered 30 cafe tables with formica with stuff that cost £40 asheet 10 x 4 but it was pretty flimsy it looked ok on cafe tables but i wouldnt use it for a router table. the slightest bit of dust showed through as a little bump we had to redo 2 of the tables so if you use this type you need a very good sanding and a good clean to keep it smooth hth

 

[Routermonster]

Guys

I was in Homebase the other day. They were selling 4x2 sheets of 2mm thick double-faced laminate at £33 each. It was nice and rigid stuff. But as i would need 2 sheets that's £66. Hmm ...

Thanks for your replies. I'll try some of the firms you mentioned.

Les

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Les,

Do you really need to cover the router table with laminate? I'd be inclined not to. I was over at Simon's (Oryx Design) workshop yesterday. He has a really nice router table that's very simple in design and the top is made just from MRMDF. The top layer (12 mm) is screwed on so is easily removable if it ever needs to be replaced. His is a commercial workshop so his router table gets a lot of use. The amount of wear on the MDF was negligible. If you want to make the surface slippery, just wax it.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Routermonster]

Paul

Given the number of self-built router tables described on this forum that have been covered in laminate , that sounds like heresy! :shock:

Only joking!

I used polyurethane varnish, followed by wax, on my existing table top. To be fair, it's still quite slippery, although the varnished surface has collected scratches over time. Maybe I'll adopt Simon's method and forget the laminate ....

Thanks

Les

 

[Mark A]

I gave my router table a few coats of varnish then sanded the top with 320 grit on my ROS. Its nice and slippery and cost nothing because the varnish was left over from something else.