Giving a plywood desk a gloss white look

[ShaunShep]

We have a home office and I want to build a full length desktop out of plywood, and ideally give it a nice flat gloss white look.

I'm unsure as to how I would go about doing this?

The office gets used daily (I work from home), so whatever I put onto the plywood has to be durable.

I have a small compressor, and wondered if painting it with automotive paint and 2k clear coat with give a good result? I have a machine polisher too which means I could sand and machine polish the surface to an almost flat look. However I have no idea if this is possible or if it will work. Maybe there are better alternatives.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[rsgaz]

You can get white melamine faced birch plywood by the way...

http://www.advancedtechnicalpanels.co.uk/products/White-Melamine-Faced-Birch-Plywood

It's pretty expensive stuff, but then you only need to paint the cut edges.

Gaz

 

[ShaunShep]

Thanks, having had a look online, I kind of like the exposed edges, maybe clear varnish them and they would provide a nice contrast to the white.

 

[ShaunShep]

I notice you can also get melamine covered MDF, for a 2.4m long desk, which would be better?

 

[Brigade77]

Do you REALLY want a white melamine desk?

 

[ShaunShep]

I don't mind as long as its white, I had looked at ikeas Linnmon table tops but I don't they're durable enough for constant use.

 

[Nigel_Cro]

Bought daughter two Ikea desk/tables (Bekant, I think) about 10 years ago when she started University, they have been used and abused and survived a house move, they are still as good as they were when new. She and her husband are artists/graphic designers so the tables regularly get dog's abuse but they clean up really well.

 

[ShaunShep]

Thanks, maybe I should go to ikea and see what they're like.

I have some office furniture at the moment that I've been using for about 6 years, something like this https://www.officefurnitureonline.c...nel-end-desks-with-single-fixed-pedestal.html and the covering over the wood is really durable, there's not a mark on any of the furniture even though it's been used 9-5 mon-fri for the last 6 years. I've had cheap argos furniture in the past, and it's just wood with some really thin covering over it, it wears away really quickly, but the furniture I have has a kind of plastic covering, no idea what it is. I'm looking for something this durable really, but I need it in around a length of 2400 x 700 to make one really long gloss white worktop.