[Closed] Which wood for craft table top?

How about a couple of sheets of 18mm Conti Board with iron on edging strip? Generally found in white but other colours available.

Or melamine faced chipboard, again 18mm thickness?

Or kitchen or bathroom worktop for either a 28mm or 38/40mm thick?

Thanks slackalice, I'll have a better look but from a quick search it appears the width of those max out around 600mm which isn't big enough for what I need.

I'm in the process of making a (I hope) beautiful dining table. It's using 2 materials - Oak veneered MDF and Black Valchromat. Both 19mm thick. 2440x1220 and available from James Latham. Reassuringly expensive.
Good MDF might be OK. The ONLY good MDF is Medite Moisture Resistant (MR). Available in a variety of thicknesses. 15mm is what you want.

You can also get melamine faced mdf get in 8x4 sheets, And you can get a melamine faced birch ply - both solve giving you a smooth snag-free worksurface - although its very very slick - stuff can slide around a little too easily. Another smooth finish is phenolic faced ply - which is a sort of marmite black/brown colour and very hardwearing (used on truck and bus floors.)

Any of the above need a bit of care and preparation to cut as the edges are very prone to splintering when being worked. Once cut and with a little chamfer of the cut edge they are pretty robust though

Steering away from film faced material Poplar Faced ply looks as nice as Birch - is as smooth - but is about half the price (and about a third of the weight). Very flat, smooth and stable,  nicer surface than the usual eastern hardwood plywoods which can be quite splintery with the face veneer being very thin and not all that well bonded.

if 600mm is ruled out you can get kitchen worktops intended for breakfast bars that are wider

But... if you're getting the trolleys from IKEA anyway the first place I'd look is their Sick Furniture Corner near the checkouts -  theres usually a rack of various large panels and table tops and something there might fit the bill

The ONLY good MDF is Medite Moisture Resistant (MR)

The Exterior Grade is better (and not green). Exterior grade would probably have to be a special order from your local yard but is a denser and more resin-bound version of regular MDF if you need the surface to be more hardwearing. It is   h e a v y  though!

Haven’t made anything with hardwood exterior plywood before, and just wondered if it’s straight forward getting the face and edges nice and smooth?

It can be a bit rough - you tend to get a lot of voids in the plys and the face veneers can be quite ropey and start to cockle up when painted

Thanks BigJohn, that black Valchromat is very nice! Will wait for your photos on the other 'Whats the last thing you made' thread.

Yeah the MDF is listed as Medite and MR. Suppose the smooth face of that is better than starting with plywood?

Suppose the smooth face of that is better than starting with plywood?

Birch or 'Garnica Efficiency Poplar' are to two options for a smooth outcome if its ply. The latter is very light so you can go thicker for a rigid worksurface but have something thats still easy to man-handle if you need to move the stuff around.

maccruiskeen - that's great, thank you for all the info.

I'd probably be fine with the standard MDF as it is (seems smooth enough without any melamine face), plus I hadn't considered a surface potentially being too slippery - good call, will have to check with the sewist!

The poplar ply sounds interesting, I'll see if Robbins Timber could get that in.

Assume lightest to heaviest would therefore be Poplar ply, Birch ply, Medite MDF?

Yes the MR MDF has a nice smooth face and the cut edges can be made very smooth. Don't try breathing in MDF dust though. Work outside.
The dining table is starting to look VERRRY funky. Extending from 1600 to 2300mm in oak and black, with funky legs too. I'm going have to get a new photo hosting site as I don't think Photopic works on this site amymore. :o)

Too late if you’ve already bought them, but those Ikea trolleys look flimsy & poor VFM. These frames are what I have in my workshop
https://signgeer.com/equipment-workshop/sign-furniture/benches/workbench-frame-2440mm-x-1220mm
Slap an 8’ x 4’ sheet of ply on top (although I cut them down to about 3’ Deep), similar on the bottom with a few strategic cuts to make a shelf. Same company sells giant cutting mats if you want to cover some or all of the top with a self healing mat.

I can't imagine the weight of mdf would be an issue depending on the size you want. How big we talking? Full size fabric cutting table or sewing machine station?

Mdf is certainly going to be the easiest to get a good edge with. Varnish it after to seal.

Ply is good and strong, but rarely very flat and unless you go for the top quality stuff, the edges can have voids which can cause splits and splinters. The far Eastern Red ply you get in builders merchants often has a pretty poor outer ply in my experience.

You could apply a rubber bump edge if you have the tools.

Other way is use thinner mdf, say 12mm, and build an underframe with 2x1 timber.

zilog6128 - Thanks for the link, cutting mats have been mentioned. As for the trolleys I've bought 2 and they're far from flimsy. Heavy-duty as described, and importantly they fit perfectly into the space (against the wall and out of the way when used as a standing office desk, and pulled out into the centre of the room when used as sewing/cutting table).

kayak23 - Thank you. Maybe you're right and I'm getting too hung up on the weight issue, after all it'll be using approx 4/5 of a full size sheet on top of the table (in 2 pieces). Bottom layer to join the trolleys, on to which I'll lay some timber lengths and then the top piece which will have a slight overhang at one end. The voids in between the 2 pieces will be used for storing rolls of paper/fabric.

You mention 12mm MDF, I guess that would save some weight and the voids between supports are only going to be 35-40cm so no chance of sagging? I could always increase the height of the supports if needed.

I wouldn't have thought you'd have any issues with 12mm, that spacing, and intended use. Cool drawing 👍

Maybe just add a baton running along the back too for a little extra support.

If you want to get fancy, you can always support the front too but have cut-outs for the fabric rolls with minimal loss of capacity, like the work benches folks are building a lot these days (including myself)

I wouldn't have thought you'd have any issues with 12mm, that spacing, and intended use. Cool drawing 👍

Maybe just add a baton running along the back too for a little extra support.

If you want to get fancy, you can always support the front too but have cut-outs for the fabric rolls with minimal loss of capacity, like the work benches folks are building a lot these days (including myself)

Thanks kayak. Should have been clear that drawing is a side elevation and the supports will run the full width of the top.

Oh, hello again workshop envy.

So, might be moving towards MDF after all. At least the money saved will go towards a nice A0 cutting mat.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=hartley+folding+table&_sacat=0

FWIW my Mrs has cut out garments and worked on this table for 4 years with no signs of wear or tear.

I seem to have posted twice trying to post a bigger photo.

That's not me by the way, or my workshop. Just a random 😂

At least the money saved will go towards a nice A0 cutting mat.

Went for birch ply after all that. One standing height sewing/cutting table and a happy customer 🙂