The melamine at the big box isn’t too durable. If you can find a local shop to sell you a cabinet grade melamine, it will last a long time..

Personally I have MDO and it’s been on for 20 years..

 

I am thinking about adding a 2nd 3/4" layer of table top to to my Rolling Assembly Table/ Workbench. I want it covered with plastic laminate like Formica.
If Im buy a sheet of Formica for $70, a sheet of MDf for $50 and a gal of Contact Cement also around $50, that comes to around $200 with tax and all. I will have scraps and stuff left over and stuff but still thats a lot of money for just a 2 1/2' X 6' assembly table addition.
On the other hand I could buy a 4'X8" sheet of melamine 3/4" thick for $50 including tax.
I have never used a melamine top before so I have no idea how durable it is.
How long will the melamine surface last with tools, wood, glue and misc supplies and some construction work on the surface? Is it worth the savings?

Melamine is paper thin and easily flakes off, especially around the edges. You would certainly need to band it with solid wood for it to have any chance of surviving. If it were me I would just use a 3/4" birch or sande plywood. You could paint it with enamel to prevent glue from sticking to the wood.

 

You don’t need to band it. All we do in the shops is ease the edges…

This all we do in commercial shops. Screw it down, if iit get damage peel it and apply another…

 

@Steve Neul
Thanks Steve for the input. The present top is 3/4" Sande Ply. Painting is out of the question because I also use the top for mixing chemicals like Lacquer, Thinner, glue, Epoxy and whatever I am working on. But you also answered one of my concerns about the durability of Melamine.

 

@Rebelwork
Thanks for the input about the Cabinet Grade Melamine. I didnt know that even had such a thing. In the pastI have always bought Formica.
I liked Formica tops in the past because I could draw sketches full scale and lay my parts and write notes right on the sketches and assemble them. Then when done, one swipe with a rag and lacquer thinner and all is clean again.

 

You might consider the MDO. I like it Because I wax it and go. Dents or not, works great.

 

@Rebelwork
Is MDO chemical resistant like to lacquer thinner if I spilled some or to clean up or wipe down with lacquer thinner?

 

It’s paper, but I don’t have any problem wit( it.

 

Personally, I think the formica tops for shop use is just a youTube-famous trend without any real-world need. It's what the middle aged white guy hosts use to attract viewers instead of the fake boobs other channels use.

A sheet of unfinished chipboard with a round over will take a lot of abuse as an assembly table. MDF with a polyurethane finish will last 20 years and withstand any abuse you give it from Mineral spirits, shellac, etc. I dont discount pride in workmanship, but when it comes down to it, your shop is a utilitarian space.

 

I haver been using Formica for some of my workbenches since the early 1980's which is way before YouTube. I've always liked it because it cleans real easy and you can write your notes on it. Glues and other chemicals just wipe right off with a rag and some lacquer thinner. Moving stuff around is real easy woth a Formica surface. It also comes in real handy when you are alone and you have to slide and roll over some heavy pieces of furniture. Everything slides easier.
My main workbench is wood with a plywood unfinished top.

 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with laminate.Most shops that use it always have some that’s out of stock and is perfect for shop projects. For a cabinet shop, there’s nothing out of pocket except labor.

I mentioned Melamine based of savings..

Ive got a whole sheet of white laminate, but chose to stick wit(the MDO saw extension.

I just did the drill press table. I decided to use the wood top rather than waste time laminating..

 

I just made a correction: Initially on the original post, I inadvertently used the term "workbench" when I meant to reference my Outfeed/Assembly table. Big Difference in usage! I been doing that a whole lot lately.

Moving Forward.......
I go on youtube but not that often. I just never noticed plastic laminate tops on any shops on youtube. I will start looking closer.
If I have to buy a sheet for my outfeed/assembly table, any scraps will probably end up on my router table. Spilled coffee is not plywood shop table top friendly.

 

Dont get me wrong, guys...if it was free I would use it. It is definitely a trend on YouTube right now, and it's just not that important that your miter saw wings have a custom patterned and meticulously fit formica top.

These arent guys repurposing excess sheets or salvaged countertops...

 

For an outfeed table you might just use particleboard. On the end behind the saw I put a 1x6 on about a 10 degree angle hanging down. Cutting thin material which sags behind the saw can hang on the outfeed table but the wood on an angle is below that and lifts it up to the table height.

 

YouTube is all about show and tell. A good looking shop on camera is premium to to generate followers.

Setting up a shop to do kitchen cabinetry is go far different than setting up for furniture.

 

I have disagree with just about all the comments, Tony. I had a melamine outfeed table for probably over a decade and it held up perfectly fine. Melamine is very tough stuff. Every extension table I've seen on a table saw has a melamine top.

If you can, get black.

 

What one uses in the shop is an individual decision. no matter what you use, it’s still gotta be waxed…

 

LOL

"Any color you want as long as it's black"

 

I'm gonna go with a white top. Makes it easier to see black markings. LOL
I dont know if a standard marker would remove easily from Melamine. If not, I also have dry erase markers which I assume would come off melamine. Maybe?

LOL "Any color you want as long as it's black"

Yeah, I guess Melamine is the basic Ford of laminates.

 

I'm gonna go with a white top. Makes it easier to see black markings. LOL
I don't know if a standard marker would remove easily from Melamine. If not, I also have dry erase markers which I assume would come off melamine. Maybe?

I'm pretty sure a Sharpie wouldn't completely come off with DNA. I'll check that later on and let you know ha ha. Mine was white and got pretty messed up with stains, dyes, etc. That's why I suggested black.

Curious what's the thing with writing on your benchtop, Tony? Gotta think about that. I write things down on paper and spend a considerable amount of time looking for the pad . Shut up, Tom -- you youngsters are going to get there one day.

Re: black melamine, they do make white markers, you know.................as well as white grease pencils!!

 

@Rebelwork
I regards to one of your earlier posts, you mentioned 'not to buy Melamine from Home Depot'. If I go to a local lumber yard about 1/4 mile away, how would I know if it is a better quality?
I'm sure that leaves this question open to a flood of laughter.

 

@Rebelwork
I regards to one of your earlier posts, you mentioned 'not to buy Melamine from Home Depot'. If I go to a local lumber yard about 1/4 mile away, how would I know if it is a better quality?
I'm sure that leaves this question open to a flood of laughter.

HD , etc us3 cold rolled. Suppliers to shops use Thermally fused. This is why when you go to the big box you often see melamine with half torn off sheets. peels like self stick shelf paper..

 

I'm pretty sure a Sharpie wouldn't completely come off with DNA..... I normally use Lacquer Thinner - Tony B

Curious what's the thing with writing on your benchtop, Tony? ..... I write things down on paper and spend a considerable amount of time looking for the pad ...... Notes that I really want to see before I pick up where I left off yesterday. Notes like, "Dont forget to do A first , before doing B". I want that info to hit me like a sledge hammer before I even look at my notes on my work books - Tony B

Sometimes I even sketch on my assemble table while in the design stage - right now I do some of it on butcher paper on the Assy Table. It's nice to see some things in full scale especially when angles are involved. When It looks good to me. I just lay my parts right on the butcher paper. BTW, I keep a roll of Butcher paper on a pipe under the top and just pull it over the table top and tape it down. The underside of a plywood top does not hold packaging tape real well and so the tape comes loose. Hey, that just gave me a great idea........just get two 6" wide strips of Formica and cement them to the underside with the sole purpose of holding the tape to keep the paper in place.
But, the paper still has a greater propensity to moving than a full sheet of Formica on the top side. The Formica top will almost completely eliminate the need for butcher paper - almost.
I guess we all have our own little quirks.

I forgot to add, glue drips come right off Formica.

 

As a plus, lately HD's 2x4's are looking pretty good.

 

Didn’t have any lacquer thinner but DNA took it off still a trace of the marker.

Tony I don’t know how much you’ve messed with melamine, and I didn’t mention it, but melamine from Home Depot is not very good. The stuff at a commercial supplier is far better, and the quality of particle board is much better, too.

Also be sure to wear gloves it the edges cut like a razor.

 

Dr Robert
I have never messed with melamine that is why I am asking. I have only used Formica and Wilsonart in the past. I think @Rebelwork also mentioned Melamine from HD with same response as yours.
I just thought that Melamine would be a cheap alternative to Formica. Now I am having my doubts.
Currently, I have a roll of butcher paper hanging on the rear end of my outfeed/assembly table. It's a pain in the neck taping it down with packaging tape and the tape dont like sticking to plywood. My Outfeed/Assy Table is used for exactly what it is called. I cant afford to have hardened glue bumps and other trash imbedded in the plywood. My actual workbench is where I do most of the rough stuff. It is off to the side and along a wall. The Outfeed/Assy table lives and thrives in the middle of the floor and is mobile - 2 stationary wheels and 2 retractable swiveling wheels.

 

You can’t get it though a supplier? FWIW, my miter saw bench, outfeed and assembly table are bare MDF. I seal them with a mixture of BLO, Naphtha, and polyU. I sprayed a few coats of marine varnish just on my outfeed, which also doubles as an assembly table. Glue pops right off. I suppose you could write on it if you had too 😁

The assembly table just has the BLO mixture. Once or twice a year I give it a sanding and recoat. I know this wouldn’t work for someone writing all over their tables, but maybe an old dog can learn a new trick to save a few bucks 😁.

Besides cost I wouldn’t use melamine or Formica on an assembly table because stuff slides around. But that’s me. Not trying to change your mind, just giving another option.

 

I think ai have two sheets of melamine in the shop, but they’re in the back Of the rack And didn’t want to get them out for my miter station. The white the shop the brighter.

Tony if you have never used it, you wouldn’t understand the advantages.

“I wouldn’t use melamine or Formica on an assembly table because stuff slides around. But that’s me. Not trying to change your mind, just giving another option”

And it’s the exactly why we Like it. You don’t have to finish it, it’s ready to go…

Melamine isn’t like walking on ice…

 

The little bench that could...I made this in 2000 with 1/2" mdf and polyurethane finish. It was meant to be replaceable but it's held up really well.