Norms' Deluxe Router Station

[roger901]

After having the plans for 15-20 years, I'm finally building this. The top gets laminated, as do some of the fence parts. Question: Norm only shows putting laminate on one side of each piece. Would I be better off laminating both sides of each piece, as you would do with veneer?

roger901

[Admiral]

When I built mine 15 years ago, full 1" thick melamine with both sides was available, which is what I think the plan called for, I got it at a specialty plywood/sheetgoods wholesaler, and it held up well. If doing my own lamination, I'd do just one side, and put some shellac or poly on the back side to seal it.

[fredhargis]

I did, though I question why. That said, mine (now 14 years old) has held up extremely well and is still flat. If you have a Habitat restore anywhere nearby, you can get laminate really cheap from them. One thing I noticed is that laminate now (at least what's at habitat) is a lot thinner than the Formica I bought 14 years ago.

[Robert Adams]

fredhargis said:

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I did, though I question why. That said, mine (now 14 years old) has held up extremely well and is still flat. If you have a Habitat restore anywhere nearby, you can get laminate really cheap from them. One thing I noticed is that laminate now (at least what's at habitat) is a lot thinner than the Formica I bought 14 years ago.

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That might have been vertical grade laminate that you got. It's noticeably thinner. The horizontal grade stuff seems about the same.

[daveferg]

The old plans called for 1" melamine which no one could find. I made mine with plywood and laminated one side---that was over 20 years ago with no problems. You might consider making it so it's the same height as your table saw--makes a great out feed table.

[jteneyck]

Another option is to use phenolic plywood. Very nice stuff. Woodcraft sells it, or used to; haven't been in one in a long time.

John

[Pink Floyd]

I've had my Norm-style router table for about 10 years. I used the 1" double-sided melamine but if/when I build another one I will use laminate on the top only and poly on the bottom side.

[daveferg]

If you follow the plans with the inner structure of the table, you should have no problem with sagging. Sure, you can laminate the bottom if you have nothing better to do, but my experience says it's really unnecessary.

[DogwoodTales]

daveferg said:

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If you follow the plans with the inner structure of the table, you should have no problem with sagging. Sure, you can laminate the bottom if you have nothing better to do, but my experience says it's really unnecessary.

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Dito what Dave says.

That's what I did 10+ years ago - laminated one side on the top and the fence faces. No issues.

[John Mihich]

If you think about it almost ALL countertops are laminated on one side only. It's the structure underneath that keeps it flat. In the kitchen it is subject to a lot of temp change and moisture.

I made mine with laminate on one side - lasted for years.