Absolutely it comes down to preferance. Sorry if I came off sounding over critical. Just not my cup of tea. Though the black stain and laquer might not look too bad.
Guy I know that builds countertops and cabinets for a hospital I used to work at as well as for peoples homes always uses the birch plywood under his formica for exactly the strength reason you mention. Also in a hospital your limited as to what kinds of stuff your allowed to use because of possible contamination. Pressboard Im guessing would just simply be too porous. While Im no expert in the field of cabinet and countertop making. I dont see why it would void any warranty
He makes some real nice stuff. but. He has every tool you can imagine at his disposal which always helps lol
No need to appologize, I didn't take your comments as critical at all. I was merely explaining why I wasn't recommending using the Formica for this type of project.
I recently re-purposed some plywood that had Formica attached to it and the Formica peeled right off like it was never attached and that is why it is not the common material anymore. I actually am using a big piece of it as my work table because it the Formica came off so clean. I realize that some might still be using but I know that the person that supplies the cabinet shop that I work out of told him that they would not warranty anything that was not on the pressboard. The fact that the pressboard is porous is actually it's benefit. It absorbs the adhesive and allows it to grab on to the wood where as the plywood is so smooth and generally not as absorbant and the adhesive does not hold as well. I have assisted with several countertop construction projects and the one thing I am sure of is that contact adhesive is about the most odd thing to work with, it is extremely difficult to get used to the idea that you need to let the adhesive dry before putting your pieces together.
Good catch there Mason. I actually do usually use brads for trimming these projects but thosee pieces of trimm were 1 1/2 inches wide and brads for the brad gun just don't come that long. I have also located a really good putty now that is made by Timbermate out of (I believe) Australia, which takes stain just like wood and most people would never see the difference. Those holes were just covered by glue and sawdust which is why they don't blend well. I really just did it quick to get the wife off my backside and I knew she would not care about or even notice them.
My shop is very small and every tool is small enough to be able to pick them up to move them around. The size is about 12'x14'. I actually had to build a sliding shelf off my work bench just so I could have my jointer and tablesaw up at the same time to avoid having to switch them back and forth so often. You would not believe how a big project like this confines my space.
Here is the filler that I have tested and found to be the best so far. We have used a sample of the natural from the manufacturer and used it on red oak and you could barely see the repair after we stained it, and we knew where to look. If you do any woodworking, I highly recommend this product. Plus it's water based and even if it dries out you just mix a little water with it and it's good to go again.
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