OT, sorta - laminate

[cbmeeks]

I have a large piece of plywood (rough grade).  It is 6.5' long and about 32" deep.

I want to make a computer desktop out of it.

What do you recommend covering it with?  laminate?

Thanks!

cbmeeks

[Tailgunner]

How rough is it? Do you know what grade it is?

[Avery]

I have seen large sheets of counter top type material out there that might work.  You can also buy veneer, real hardwood cut a 1/16 or 32nd of an inch or so think, but depending on what you mean by roungh, you might be better off if you glued a quarter inch thick piece of high end plywood to what you've got.  It'll be a bit pricey (at some point you stop paying for wood and start paying for smooth) but I think you are in for a mess of work.

[cbmeeks]

thanks guys.

by rough, I mean the stuff that is used for walls.  Real rough.  As in don't run your hand down it.

I would really like to use it somehow because it was free.

[SteveJ34]

thanks guys.

by rough, I mean the stuff that is used for walls.  Real rough.  As in don't run your hand down it.

I would really like to use it somehow because it was free.

Ah, childhood memories....

A piece of lumber like that in combination with some scrap 2x4 bracing would probably have been fashioned into a ramp to jump our bikes off of.....

[Tailgunner]

If it doesn't have big open knotholes in the face, you can laminate over it. If it's got open knotholes, splits, or other surface defects, I'd fill them with something (bondo, wood putty) before laminating over it.

On the other hand, you can buy a cheap belt sander for about the same cost as a sheet of laminate. With a couple of belts you could get a stainable or paintable surface in short order.

On yet another hand, you could buy a sanded sheet of B/C plywood cheaper than either of the other two options. Stain and finish the good side of that one, and glue your existing sheet underneath it. You get a thick desktop that won't warp and looks like furniture when finished.