Formica worktop

[PCUK]

The decorative laminate on my one sided shower compartment sink top hasn't warped in 30 years!

 

[Daydream believer]

I have done a few thousand square metres of laminating in my joinery business & one ALWAYS has to apply a backing veneer unless one can screw the substrate down really well. But even then I would still apply a backing.
The problem is that the veneer has a different expansion characteristics to the substrate, so any movement in the substrate will cause a shearing effect which causes bending. Even something like a solid core door 44 th with only a wood veneer needs a balancing veneer. One side gets a bit warmer , or collects more moisture & away you go

You do not always have to use contact adhesive. I used to use a lot of a particular grade of PVA glue for formica but always left it in a press for half an hour as it took 20 mins to dry. I am not sure if you have the means of clamping but it did make a waterproof fixing. It allowed us to position the veneer by sliding into place which you cannot do with contact adhesive. This enabled us to get rid of air bubbles on large areas.You just need the right PVA

As for the comment that no one supplies unusual veneered ply any more- i used quite a few lorry loads of specialist veneers, but then as I bought it in such quantities I was able to obtain it to order. If you live near London, buy your ply, Cut it slightly oversize & go to Shawyers or any veneerers & they will stick any wood veneer you want to it.

The comment has been made that ply always has even No of layers. Not so, low quality Far Easten ply ( for example) often had a thick central veneer of cheap timber & then 2 more thinner layers of a better quality veneer each side to form the outer surfaces & balance the ply. In fact if you had even layers you would not balance the central layers as two middle layers would be criss cross but not balance each other

As for forming rounded surfaces - you need decent equipment & post forming grade laminates. We never managed to post form edges in our works & always subbed that operation to specialist post forming companies. So with all due respects i do not think an amateur would achieve a good result

 

[single]

I have done a few thousand square metres of laminating in my joinery business & one ALWAYS has to apply a backing veneer unless one can screw the substrate down really well. But even then I would still apply a backing.
The problem is that the veneer has a different expansion characteristics to the substrate, so any movement in the substrate will cause a shearing effect which causes bending. Even something like a solid core door 44 th with only a wood veneer needs a balancing veneer. One side gets a bit warmer , or collects more moisture & away you go

You do not always have to use contact adhesive. I used to use a lot of a particular grade of PVA glue for formica but always left it in a press for half an hour as it took 20 mins to dry. I am not sure if you have the means of clamping but it did make a waterproof fixing. It allowed us to position the veneer by sliding into place which you cannot do with contact adhesive. This enabled us to get rid of air bubbles on large areas.You just need the right PVA

As for the comment that no one supplies unusual veneered ply any more- i used quite a few lorry loads of specialist veneers, but then as I bought it in such quantities I was able to obtain it to order. If you live near London, buy your ply, Cut it slightly oversize & go to Shawyers or any veneerers & they will stick any wood veneer you want to it.

The comment has been made that ply always has even No of layers. Not so, low quality Far Easten ply ( for example) often had a thick central veneer of cheap timber & then 2 more thinner layers of a better quality veneer each side to form the outer surfaces & balance the ply. In fact if you had even layers you would not balance the central layers as two middle layers would be criss cross but not balance each other

As for forming rounded surfaces - you need decent equipment & post forming grade laminates. We never managed to post form edges in our works & always subbed that operation to specialist post forming companies. So with all due respects i do not think an amateur would achieve a good result

I was going to use contact adhesive but i like the idea of PVA. Is the new Gorilla wood glue suitable?
http://uk.gorillaglue.com/eng/glues/glue-list/1/3/gorilla-wood-glue.html