I took a day off to cry a little. I received my HPL yesterday morning and I got same material as Sideways, just 6x because I bought 6 pieces. All of them are bowed. Some are bowed approx 1 mm across the length (600 mm to 1100 mm), some are less, still too much in order to use them for a perfectly flat router table. From what i've tried and seen, they seem to have a little bit of flex. What I mean is that they look like maybe I could force them to stay flat if I glue them to a perfectly flat backing board. However, given the strength of the material, I have no idea whether the outcome will be this or the HPL wil force the board below to bend. What do you think?
My other option as stating above would be black mdf, similar to Valchromat. The problem with this one is that I can only afford the 10 mm sheet for now and I would have to glue down 2 layers in order to get enough thickness. I'm afraid to use regular mdf due to the poor quality.
That, sir, is a fabulous idea. It left me speechless. And it also inspired me. I have a pretty good 3D printer that's been sitting in the box for quite some time (long story). Think it's time to unbox it.
The supplier is from China but thanks for the intent. Mdf is widely available. However, god quality mdf is not. I can go two ways - Valchromat or black mdf (similar to Valchromat, different manufacturer). I wanted something more sturdy for my router table part. Now I'm pretty much out of options.
Thank you. You and the other members who replied already convinced me to go the regular normal way and avoid 'reinventing the egg'. Above I've mentioned the mdf situation in my country. All is left now is to ask for some more info from experience regarding the top for my setup, in the router part. I do have one more HPL piece from another purchase and that one is flat, only problem is that it's much smaller and all I could do with it would be a big insert plate - let's say 600x400 mm. But that one I'd still have to place on a mdf/plywood sheet and then add another sheet around it.
My other option as stating above would be black mdf, similar to Valchromat. The problem with this one is that I can only afford the 10 mm sheet for now and I would have to glue down 2 layers in order to get enough thickness. I'm afraid to use regular mdf due to the poor quality.
