Consider the ball point pen. It is very small and the force you exert
is high - PSI is high. No wood can stand up to it. Many metals can't.

Use a tablet under the single sheet or a glass sheet covering the top.
The glass should be tempered and safety. A glass company should help.

In the 60's we had good friends that had a glass table top for a dinning room.

The table was great until a hot pot was put on a cloth pad - shattered it.
The table top was replaced with a 1" sandstone top that was sealed and was
beautiful. The mother had a deep gash on her leg.

Martin

Mark Whittingham wrote:
I'm planning on a cherry top for a table I'm making. The finish will
be Duravar. Will this be hard enough to write on without noticeable
denting, or should I use maple and dye/stain it to look like cherry?
Thank you.

JP