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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Workbench Melamine Surface Update

By Paul Crowe

Workbench with melamine surface and pegboard on the wall.
Workbench with melamine surface and pegboard on the wall.

Just thought I’d quickly mention a workbench addition that I like a lot. When I first showed you the work I had done in the garage hanging cabinets, the bench still had the plywood surface. It was fine as it was, but I wanted something brighter and easier to clean and I needed a way to hang tools or anything else I wanted on the wall. If you noticed in the post with the Guzzi up on stands, you can see the difference from the earlier photo.

What I added is a panel with a melamine surface covering a very dense particle board core cut to size. Lowe’s sells these in 4X8 sheets 3/4 inches thick and they have big panel saws in the store so you can get it trimmed to exactly the size you need. That leaves a raw edge all around that doesn’t look finished. You can get melamine tape made for this purpose and it’s really easy to apply. It has a hot glue backing so all you need to do is cut the tape to length for the edge you want to cover. Go a little long for trimming afterwards. I used an old iron we happened to have which worked perfectly for the job. Hold the tape up at one end and apply the iron for a couple of seconds, set to the temperature marked for cotton. The glue melts and the tape will be firmly attached. Slowly run the iron along the tape all along the remaining portion of the edge. Trim with a razor at the end and you’re done. It’s very easy and looks professional, the same as an edge would be finished on a melamine shelf you would buy in the store.

These panels are heavier than they look, so once I had it sitting on the bench, I drilled and countersunk four holes through the panel and the plywood benchtop and into the 2X4s underneath. Once the screws were in I covered the holes with plastic caps left over from the cabinet installation. The surface is very sturdy, it’s easy to clean, reflects the light from the LEDs over the bench so the work area is nice and bright and if the surface ever gets damaged or really dirty, I can remove four screws, flip it over or install a new panel and it will look like new.

Plastic capped screws holding the melamine panel to the bench
Plastic capped screws holding the melamine panel to the bench. Easy off if I need to and unobtrusive.

The pegboard speaks for itself. I had outlets in the wall already so I had to locate those on the pegboard and cut the openings. The cutouts weren’t exactly centered and the edges were a little rough. The cabinets I hung over the bench had come with that thin material you’re supposed to nail over the open back, but since it was mounted on the wall I didn’t use it. I used it to make rectangles with openings the size of the outlet covers with about an inch of additional material all around. Then I used double sided tape to fasten it to the pegboard centered over the outlet. Very low tech, but it dressed up the edge just fine.

Nothing complex here, but if you’re following along as I add to the shop, I thought you might be interested.

Posted on March 31, 2015 Filed Under: Workshop & Tools


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Comments

  1. Wave says

    March 31, 2015 at 10:14 pm

    Looks good!

    With the edging, I always find that it chips off very easily with use. I haven’t found a better alternative though.

    • Paul Crowe says

      April 1, 2015 at 5:32 am

      Haven’t had time to put it to a long term test, but chips on the edge over time just add a little honest patina.

      • Wayne Patrick says

        April 14, 2015 at 9:21 am

        “Check your local area”:
        Here in Calgary there is a volume oriented millwork company that builds custom cabinet doors of all sorts…AND…they also offer pre-edged melamine panels meant for building cabinet boxes. The edging will help prevent water intrusion into the edge of your counters.

  2. Pushrod says

    April 1, 2015 at 9:25 am

    I used ‘engineered’ wood flooring culls to cover the 3/4″ plywood bench table in my shop. With the aluminum oxide wear coating, it’s harder than woodpecker lips.

    After I glued the planks down, I made and glued on an edge strip that engaged the floor planks and the plywood base.

    Then I gave the whole surface a good layer of floor paste wax to seal the cracks.

    It’s almost too pretty to cover with the various things that inevitably find a home on it.

    • Paul Crowe says

      April 1, 2015 at 10:13 am

      The engineered materials today are really fascinating and if you haven’t looked around in a while you’d be amazed, they’re good looking and crazy durable. I bet that wood surface you have does look great. It makes you wonder how everyone got along without this stuff before, when lumber was actually a long slice of tree trunk with all sorts of imperfections. It’s like machine tools before CNC, way back when men were men, gas was cheap, … etc

  3. Doug says

    April 3, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    nice touch with the Guzziology book from Dave @ Moto I

    • Paul Crowe says

      April 3, 2015 at 3:43 pm

      That book should be standard equipment with every Moto Guzzi.

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