Originally Posted by
NavyVet1959
A thick top is nice to have. Mine is made from some 2×8s (and 2×6s, I think) to get a certain depth I was wanting to achieve and then joined together with pegs aligned between the adjacent plank and glued. If I had had a table saw at that time, I would have made a glued tongue-and-groove joinery, but this works pretty good. After sanding it down with a belt sander, I coated it with Danish oil.
The pre-laminated 4x8 sheets that you see at Home Depot is over particle board. I would *highly* advise staying away from particle board, especially on a horizontal surface.
Of course, you can buy the sheets of laminate and laminate over a top made from 2×X lumber, but what will your feelings be about leaving holes in the laminate when you decide you want a different press or you want to move a press from one bench to another? With a solid wood top, you can just cut a dowel to the size of the hole, hammer it in along with some glue, cut it off flush, and then sand it even with the table top. Or you can just create a "dutchman" to cover the surface.