"Jerry" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I'm a newbie but am going to build a built-in cabinet / desk center in
my house. The unit will have a table top that is about 80" wide by
about 32" deep. However the two ends will be on top of cabinets so the
open (non supported) area between the end cabinets is about 38" wide.

This thing will be of cherry and I want to have a cherry table top
with the above dimensions. I would like the table top to be at least
1" thick for rigidity -- I don't think a 3/4" plywood would work
without saging/warping in the center.

How would you guys go about constructing this table top? My ideas
a

1. Glue up a panel using 1" cherry stock. What minimum board width
would you use?

2. Apply a cherry veneer to some other substrate (3/4" birch ply
might be strong enough to not sag?)

3. Bond cherry veneered 1/4" plywood to a 3/4" birch ply sheet.

Can you buy x8' cherry veneered plywood anywhere?

Thanks for any advice you might have.

I just built a cherry table where I used solid cherry for the top. Call it
personal preference, but I did not want to use sheet goods in that
application. Comparing 3/4" cherry ply to solid, it doesn't appear from the
price sheet at my local place that price is really a factor. You'd need a
full 4x8 sheet of cherry ply, which in an A-1 grade and a veneer core, will
run $110. Then, you would need to buy a small amount of cherry to trim it.
The 80x32 top is just under 18 board feet with 4/4 stock. (I would go with
5/4, but I'm trying to make an apples-to-apples comparison to 3/4 ply). 20
board feet of 4/4 cherry would run you $130. Now, there's a lot more work
involved turning that into a table top than the ply with jointing edges,
gluing, sanding, etc, but IMHO, it's worth it.

My impression of veneer from reading here is that it's not bad if you have
the right setup. If you have a vacuum pump and a bag the right size, it
could be great. If you don't, it looks like trouble (at least for me). You
could do a 1/4" ply on top of birch ply, but the cost savings doesn't offset
the additional work required (again, at least for me).

todd