I'm not the only early riser! Up with the sparrows Graeme?

I thought that as well. Maybe the the haircell pattern on the melamine would be an advantage? DMT had a system like that in the past (maybe still do).

I just picked up regular 6mm float glass so I could cut it to size and have been pretty happy with that. Still a cheap option! $2 is hard to beat though!

I must admit I have not played around with whetstones in a long while now. I only use them when I need the very best edges and have not done anything worthy of the effort in yrs.

.......sometimes I miss the irresponsibility of youth.....where did all the freedom go?

diamond stones and stropping get me pretty close to the same edge in a much shorter time frame.
Their is still something very enjoyable in the older systems though.

From my old kitchen days, moisture resistant chipboard stays flatter than moisture resistant MDF. MDF keeps sucking moisture and over time, the edges swell up. The chipboard still does this but much slower.
We used MDF for the carcass because the fixings (& drilling) were more accurate and chipboard for the doors as they stayed flatter.