Cheap alternative to laminate ?

[bramers]

hello,

i was at work today and i was looking for a finish that is very smooth and resistant. i was then thinking about a surface to apply this finish to and i thought about hardboard, but what about using White faced hardboard?


it's low friction (white) and looks like laminate. and best of all it only costs me £6.44 a sheet (8x4"). i am hoping it will serve well as a sacrificial fecnce and as a new bed for the thicknesser.

i am going to order a sheet and se how i get on, at that price i cant go wrong, as long as i back it with 12.5mm birch ply it should be ok.

the only things that did cross my mind was how to apply it to the backing (gripfill,contact adhisive,PVA?) and should i take the ridges out of its back?

any thoughts welcome.

thanks

 

[PowerTool]

Hi Neil - I used some last weekend to box in some lights above a fitted wardrobe (saved having to paint it.. :wink: )
Left the ridges on,used Titebond,stuck to the timber framework very nicely.

Don't know how well it will last,but as you said,it's worth trying out at that price.

Andrew

 

[stairman]

don't know about the painted hardboard but when laying hardboard to even out flooring it needs to be soaked so that it tightens up after it is fixed as it dries

 

[bramers]

yeah, good point.

any other ideas? or do you know of a cheap surplyer of laminate?

neil

 

[stairman]

maybe it don't matter on a small bit may be ok

when needing to rase my thicknesser bed to cut thin bits (3mm) I use 12mm ply (because I have that thickness) and spray it with PTEF (dry lubricant)

 

[Scrit]

Watch out that it is melamine-faced hardboard, not painted. The melamine faced stuff is a lot harder wearing

Scrit

 

[jasonB]

Agree with scrit, I can get painted that is a very light fluffy hardboard and the mel face which is a much heavier denser board and the surface is much smoother.

Have you thoughy about a couple of boards of laminate flooring, probably wont even need backing.

I use a bit of conti or MFC if I need to raise my thicknesser for thin work, just don't go too thin as it will chew it up and spit it out

Jason

 

[Steve Maskery]

The other point you may wish to consider, Neil, is curvature. If you glue your saface material to a backboard like ply, you may find that the whole thing cups. Consider doing the same to the oter face of the play to keep the stesses equal and maintain flatness.

I too use a secondary tabl in my thicknesser, like Jason, and find it invaluable. I can thickness down to about 5mm oor so before catastrophe strikes. Depends on the material of course.