I'm currently jury-rigging a Haas enclosure and I want some panels for the top and bottom. I'm looking for a panel of formica(black preferably). I've checked with my local Home Depot and they don't carry formica.

I checked Lowe's and Menards and they only have huge sheets at $70/pop.

Is it possible to find small sheets of formica on the cheap?

Any ideas where I could find one in the Chicago area? Or maybe any ideas on a comparable material? I know you can use flexible sheets of thin ply but i much prefer the look of the formica..

thanks!

-J

How about thermoformed acrylic painted on the inside? You could make a diffusion pattern like a logo or some other graphic that glows when the projector is on. Just a thought. You could probably get scrap formica from construction sites, your local classifieds, eBay, and various manufacturers.

Try your local cabinet shop. They usually have small pieces that they can't use. You may even get them to cut it for you.

If your going to paint your case consider hardboard. The home depot near me sells 2' by 4' sheets of 1/8th in masonite for 2.99. You need 2 pieces but it's still well under 10 bucks including tax. It does not look as nice as the formica, but its easy to work, fairly strong, and flexible so it easily slides into your curved grooves. This is what I used and it works fine. The nice thing abut is it's so cheap. I drilled a hole in my top skin to do heat testing and rather than patch it, once I make sure everything runs cool I'll just run out and buy another one. My nearby Lowe's has 4x8 sheets of 3/16ths hardboard for about 10 bucks. If you decide to use hardboard and have yet to route your slots be sure to use a router bit that oversized by 1/16th of an inch.

Menards' supply goes up and down. HD never has it, but the Menards by me will generally carry some in 30*48" sheets that are $10. I would keep checking, or try another Menards.

It just dawned on me that I have about 1/2 a sheet of black formica stuffed up in the rafters from my PJ. Intrested?

Heck yeah! I emailed you Haas. Thanks!!


And thanks to everyone for their suggestions! The support on this board is amazing!

-J