Bill Diedrich

Wanting to build a magnetic building surface to fit over my existing main building bench
a solid core door 36" x 80", not having much luck finding what I think is the right metal
for the job, 20 gauge steel that is not galvanized, or is galvanized OK for this type of
project. Was thinking of contacting the metal building people to see if they had any
material that was wide enough to do the job. Not wanting any think plate type steel,
as I want to be able to remove the surface to keep it from getting scratched or dented.
My intentions are to use contact cement to glue the thin sheet metal to a 1/2" MDF surface.

Any and all suggestions welcome............Thanks

Bill D.

Lnewqban

Bill,

Some time ago, another member did and posted a similar situation.

As I remember, he bought steel from a roll and that became of nightmare to keep it flat over the table.

He ended up screwing the metal down in many points.

Any local sheet metal shop should have stocked sheets of 48" height x 12'.

Be aware that stainless steel is not magnetic.

Best!

yel914

Bill, as stated, any sheet metal shop can probably supply the metal for the table. A thicker substrate, 3/4 or 1" would be better. Applying metal to only one surface tends to make that surface warp (humidity gets into the uncovered side and warps the panel). To solve this problem, you could put plastic laminate(Formica) on the back side and metal on the face creating a balanced panel. You can also glue metal to a panel that has laminate on both sides. You may be able to find extra unused panels from cabinet shops in your area that have done large scale commercial projects, like schools or buildings. They use these panels all the time and when the job is completed, the panels are waste. Ask for excess "layed up panels". Also, Gorilla glue works great to glue metal to the substrate. Good luck on the table.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

When I built my magnetic building system I went to the local steel supply and purchased 18 gauge sheet steel. I put this down on top of a hollow core door. I keep it in place with a screw in each corner of the steel sheet. The 18 gauge is thin enough that it will conform to the door, meaning that it will stay flat with the door and doesn't have any warps on it's own. My main building board is 72"x24". I also had two smaller ones made at 48"x24" and 36"x18" that I can use for building smaller assemblies away from the main board when it's full. I didn't get galvanized steel for mine, which means that I have to preventive maintenance on my board. That translates to every few months I will apply a coat of wax to the steel to keep it from rusting. 

dant-RCU

My Feedback: (3)

I did pretty much what RCKen did. I went to my local steel fabricator and he cut me a piece of 20 guage steel to fit
my 36" solid core door. Installed with countersunk screws. I painted it with flat white Krylon then a shot of Krylon
clear. I use a solid core door to insure it is flat. Mounted it on top of two unfinished cabinets from Lowes so I also have
8 nice drawers where I build. Every now and then I sand off the top and repaint and reclear. I have been using this
method for 16 years.

One thing to be aware of, if you use a big solid core door it is HEAVY even before you add the steel top!!

One more thing. The steel fabricator charged me for a full sheet even though I only used some of it. I did not take
the unused part home as I had no need. The cut was "free".

Works for me....

Dan

Hemikiller

My Feedback: (125)

Echoing the statements above about the 20 gage steel. You can use galvanized, we go through pallets of G90 here. I have some scrap pieces for my building board and the texture of the surface doesn't present a problem. If you can get electro-galvanized (aka zinc electroplated), it is the material that the guts of computer cases are made from and is just a rust resistant coating with no discernible thickness.