Melamine, porypropylene and PVC

[rjrl101]

I am currently buying parts in preparation for building a router table and have come to sourcing material to cover the table top. I gather that Melamine resin is the preferred material but is more difficult to obtain (I'm joe public, not trade).

However there are other plastic sheet materials which seem more readily available. Principally polypropylene, PVC and flat rigid PVC (see link below for example)

Would any of these be an acceptable substitute to the melamine? In case chemical reaction plays a part in material selection, I should say that I plan on glueing the sheet to the MDF table top with Evostick Timebond.

thanks,
Richard

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Richard

Welcome to the forum.

Our spamulator caught you, but your link is here.

Cheers
Neil

 

[George_N]

I think what you really want for the table top is a high pressure laminate like "Formica". I bought mine from a local timber merchant in Edinburgh (not much use to you) and it was about £35 for a sheet 10' x 4'. It is flexible enough to roll up for transport in the back of a car or they can probably cut it roughly to size for you. For the table top itself I used two layers of 18 mm birch ply with a solid wood lipping and then laminated both sides (important for the stability of the top) using Evo-Stick impact adhesive. I'm not sure how well other plastics would stick with this method. I know that polyethylene and polypropylene don't glue well.
I hope some of this helps.

 

[Scrit]

I am currently buying parts in preparation for building a router table and have come to sourcing material to cover the table top. I gather that Melamine resin is the preferred material but is more difficult to obtain (I'm joe public, not trade).

Even the trade can't get melamine resin that easily - it's what the manufacturers of MFC (melamine-faced chipboard, the stuff they use for kitchen carcasses) use, but otherwise not readily available. And they use a layer of paper and heat cure the stuff, so...... Ther are, however, two readily available materials - MFC or MF-MDF (melamine-faced MDF, used for point of sale stands, etc). Alternatively you could always laminate up a tof using a decorative laminate (such as Formica) or even press a kitchen worktop offcut into service, as these, after all are made from decorative laminate bonded onto 30 to 40mm thick chipboard. Just check it for flatness with a straight edge first

Would any of these (polypropylene, PVC and flat rigid PVC) be an acceptable substitute to the melamine?

No. They are all too soft. The only suitable readily available plastics (apart from decorative laminates) are really phenolic composites (e.g. Tufnol), UHMW-PE (UHMW plastic), Nylon 66 or the aforementioned laminates (which in any case are also phenolic derivatives)

Scrit

 

[rjrl101]

Thank you very much for the replies, they've helped a great deal. I've done a bit of searching on this forum and the wider internet this evening based on the replies here and I've now got a good number of leads to follow up on Monday morning.

Part of my problem was not realising there was a difference between melamine and Formica. I thought Formica was just a marketing name for the chemical compound melamine - but I now realise that they're totally different things and that it is in fact high pressure / decorative laminate made by Formica I should be looking for. Searches for formica yield much better results on this forum.

thanks again, I'll try to let you know how I get on

Richard

 

[jasonB]

You will be limiting your search by using "Formica" its a bit like looking for "Hoover" when you want a "Vacuum cleaner"

One other option is laminate covered MDF or Ply, this is 18mm board with a thin (decamel?) high pressure laminate pre stuck to each side. As it is put on with a large press there is no risk of air pockets or lumps of adhesive under the laminate. Not cheap though at about £70 a sheet but still cheaper than two sheets of laminate, board and glue :wink:

You don't see it that often but my local panel specialist keeps it, may need some searching in your area. If there is a company that does veneering they may be able to do it for you.

Jason