Thread: Timber Benchtop for Router Cabinet Worktop

Originally Posted by Trevor Dennis

I came across this product in Bunnings NZ today.

Interbuild Acacia.jpg

I'd gone there looking for something like a Formica laminate to finish the two sheets of 18mm MDF I intended remaking my router cabinet top. They didn't sell laminate, but one of the staff showed me the Interbuild Acacia hardwood worktop. I must have walked past them dozens of times as I am in the store at least twice a week, but always assumed them to be veneered or laminated, so it was quite a revelation finding out they are solid. The board above is NZ$102 and they do a 36mm thick board for NZ$169. If I can get away with using this product for a router table top, then I am thinking the 26mm would be fine as I can double it up — my current table top is 1000mm X 610mm (ish) including a Rimu edging.

Has anyone used this for other than its intended use? It must be water resistant if it is designed for kitchen use. They have similar products using bamboo and grandis, the latter being half as much again in price. Does it come prefinished so that I can glue two thicknesses together? I've seen a Bunnings video of hardwax oil being applied which suggests it is.

I think the main advantage of using things like MDF and melamine as a router top is being man made they are reasonably flat and don't move much with humidty etc. Being flat is the biggest advantage for things like router bench tops, the melamine just helps it glide across and prevent wear.

I used similar panels (merbau) in my rental kitchen and they came up looking great, but they're not "designed" for kitchen use.... you have to finish them properly to be able to use them in the kitchen. You would need to clean/sand off the hardwax oil before gluing anything to it in my opinion, but then again I'd also just stick with the MDF

Hi and thanks for replying. I found this video after starting this thread. It makes the point of not unwrapping the packaging until you are ready to use it, and to seal the edges and ends as soon as is practical to prevent warping. What I am most interested to find out is if the hardwax oil finish is applied top and bottom, but it seems likely it would be both sides or it is bound to warp. For the sake of a hundred bucks I am inclined to give it a try and be as ready as I can be before removing the plastic packaging.



I actually heard from Carbatec today saying my TRA001 had been dispatched, which caught me out as they'd reckoned it would take five weeks to fill the backorders caused by Auckland's COVID Level 4 lockdown. I still have to wait for the Kreg insert and Levellers. I ordered them from Amazon as it was cheaper, and I was not expecting the router for weeks. So I think I am going to give the Acacia benchtop a try. It has to stay flat when used in kitchens, so I must be in with a fighting chance of it working for my router cabinet — especially with it doubled up thickness wise.

I used one of those for my computer desk top. They do come pre-oiled on both sides and as I cut mine down I had to re-oil the cut edges. They appear to be very flat but I never had the need to put a straight edge over it as it wasn't showing any signs of not being so. The one I used was 26mm thick.

Computer desk.jpg

PS. good news on the Router you'll love it.

That desktop is very attractive. Of course we'd all love a big slab of hardwood for our furniture, but the reality is that the finger jointed hardwood benchtops from Vietnam are infinitely more available and affordable, and I think they still look amazing.

I'd put my router cabinet rebuild on hold because I was expecting a long delay for the Kreg insert and levellers I'd ordered from Amazon because of news reports that the American USPS had suspended shipment to NZ and some other countries because of limited flights and shipping, but the parts all turned up a couple of days ago. Unfortunately I'd started a project for my wife that _has_ to be completed before I can progress my own project, although the weather is not helping. I love Demolition Dave's channel on YouTube — he blows stuff up in the Melbourne area — but I hate seeing bad weather in his videos because I know we'll cop it in NZ a week later.