Where to buy formica sheet?

October 5, 2005 6:05 PM

Can somebody tell me where I can buy formica or laminate sheets with wood grain pattern that i could use to laminate furniture. I have been googling on the web without much success. Most places seem to sell finished products only.
posted by flyby22 to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Check the big box home improvement borg in your area. Around here HD and revy have assorted styles in stock and can order in from a vast catalog.
posted by Mitheral at 6:24 PM on October 5, 2005

Also, there are going to be shops that cater to cabinet builders. Try finding a good plywood place first. They either will carry a large selection of laminate, or know who does.
Home Depot and Lowes in my neck of the woods carry it, at around $50/sheet (4'x8')

Or you could try my method: I went to an auction and bought hundreds of square feet of leftover laminate and veneer. I guess that's a harder route but it sure was cheap.
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:29 PM on October 5, 2005

Try using veneer as your search term. I bought my maple veneer at Home Depot, but you can get it at a lot of other stores (or bords, as noted above).
posted by acoutu at 9:50 PM on October 5, 2005

For Formica or equivalent, try the yellow pages of your local metro area under countertops. A store that does custom countertop work will also sell you the laminate sheets without the underlayment. It will also have sample chips to selct from.
posted by pgoes at 10:22 PM on October 5, 2005

E.G.: Wilsonart distributor finder. (Wilsonart is one of many manufacturers of plastic laminate.)

Why plastic though? Real wood veneer.
posted by Dick Paris at 5:09 AM on October 6, 2005

Response by poster: I am not sure I can join the real wood veneer well enough. It seems to need vacuum press and all. I did originally think of real wood veneer. But the project pieces are 6inch by 5 ft long pieces. Not sure I can just press it down with bricks etc.
posted by flyby22 at 7:07 AM on October 6, 2005

You can put veneer on a lot of ways that don't require a vacuum press. I've never done it but I bet you can put it on with contact cement, the same as you can with laminate. Also there is always the hide glue method, which is time consuming and requires some skill, but does not require much in the way of equipment (a melting pot and a veneer "hammer"). Also, there are "iron on" veneers that come in rolls, these might do you quite well since your pieces are only 6" wide. Hmm. I can't find it in Lee Valley's (www.leevalley.com) website but I'm pretty sure I saw it in their catalog. They also sell traditional veenering equipment.

Another way to do veneering, if you are veneering flat sheets, is to use cauls. Basically you might consider 2 8"x5.5' sheets, with the piece you're veneering sandwiched in between, and clamps every 6" or so, or maybe clamped cauls every foot or so. They also make special clamps especially for such things or you can make your own. Anyway, this method is a bit like using a hand-made long veneer press. I recommend a plastic glue, like gorilla glue, or some other slow-setting glue for this, actually, since it might take some time to get everything set up and clamped.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:17 AM on October 6, 2005

Also, I don't know your application or source materials, but if you have not already cut the strips, maybe consider cabinet grad plywood? It's already "veneered" so all you'd have to do is veneer the edges. This is easy, the sell iron-on veneer edge strips even at home depot, etc, and also you can make your own or even use a thicker edge banding. Cabinet grade plywood is not cheap, but often it's cheaper than the laminate for the same size. That is, I can buy, say, a 4x8 sheet of plywood at a good cabinet shop for under $50/sheet, laminate can cost this much or more.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:21 AM on October 6, 2005

My dad made all our new kitchen cabinets using cabinet grade plywood. They look awesome. All he had to do was iron the edges. We paid less than CAD 50 per sheet.
posted by acoutu at 9:01 AM on October 6, 2005