The Dude
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2010
- Location
- Portland, OR
Anything close to Micarta available in 48"x96" that is much cheaper?
I'm looking for a countertop material for workbenches that have to be about 40" wide and are tied together to form long assy lines for upholstered furniture. Currently using UHMW (1/4" thick) but the bad part is that it warps and scratches and, after it's scratched can damage the upholstery. The warping makes it hard to square-up framework. The material has to be break resistant, reasonably smooth and maintainable to remove dried glue and scratches with a sanding disk on a grinder. Our main option is to go with gauge steel over 3/4" plywood (probably 14 or 12) but some will have to be SS since it can rust in low-use corners which can stain the upholstery. The sections before upholstery are framing and foaming so could use carbon steel for that.
Just wondering if there's any good laminated material or other thin cover that might work for this. Looked into Micarta but way too expensive. Ideally avaialble in 48 x 96 sheets, better yet is 48 x 120.
Updates: Maybe should have clarified a few things. First off there is a huge amount of sq footage for all of this, I'm guessing around 1500 total for the assy lines. Next, the guys are working so fast they don't have time to wipe off any dripped-off glue. It hopefully is done whenever it builds up to a point that it's easy to scrape off (if the top material allows it).
Thanks,
The Dude
I'm looking for a countertop material for workbenches that have to be about 40" wide and are tied together to form long assy lines for upholstered furniture. Currently using UHMW (1/4" thick) but the bad part is that it warps and scratches and, after it's scratched can damage the upholstery. The warping makes it hard to square-up framework. The material has to be break resistant, reasonably smooth and maintainable to remove dried glue and scratches with a sanding disk on a grinder. Our main option is to go with gauge steel over 3/4" plywood (probably 14 or 12) but some will have to be SS since it can rust in low-use corners which can stain the upholstery. The sections before upholstery are framing and foaming so could use carbon steel for that.
Just wondering if there's any good laminated material or other thin cover that might work for this. Looked into Micarta but way too expensive. Ideally avaialble in 48 x 96 sheets, better yet is 48 x 120.
Updates: Maybe should have clarified a few things. First off there is a huge amount of sq footage for all of this, I'm guessing around 1500 total for the assy lines. Next, the guys are working so fast they don't have time to wipe off any dripped-off glue. It hopefully is done whenever it builds up to a point that it's easy to scrape off (if the top material allows it).
Thanks,
The Dude
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