Hi JaneinColorado, I'll take some pics tomorrow when it's light out when I don't have to use the flash and can hopefully get a better picture for you. It doesn't really have much veining, it's more of splotches of gray, white and black. We just did a normal edge and I colored it with Sharpie to take away the small bit of brown and white that was showing. I'm sure it would look good with a rounded edge too and it would be nice not to have any seams on the edge, but in our case it was much less expensive to go with the traditional edge profile. It worked out because I actually prefer the look square edge anyways :) Another option that I considered was the Formica basalt in a honed finish. The dealer near us had the Wilsonart soapstone in stock, so I was able to go and see a big piece in person. It's so hard to tell from the tiny samples, so it was helpful to see it in person. We were in a hurry so we just went with the Wilsonart, but I'm sure the basalt would have been pretty too.

My very-much-on-a-budget family has a nice new Wilsonart laminate countertop. I ran my finger under the overhanging edges and, sure enough, there is laminate on top and particle board underneath. My kids splash a lot (the previous countertop disintegrated due to splashing which caused water leaking which did about what you'd expect to fiberboard), and I hate messing with anything oil based if I can avoid it plus I'm terrified of ruining the look of my beautiful new countertop by smearing something icky on it, so after much internet research, here's what I'm trying: (1) two coats of Minwax water based polycrylic, which is alleged to give a crystal clear finish and it apparently does. (2) after the Minwax has had a week to cure, I'm going to pick a day when the countertop is super dry (ship the kids to Siberia for a couple days maybe?) and then protect the most vulnerable area (the three feet directly in front of the sink, we don't have a dishwasher), by running a cut to fit half inch strip of duck tape along it, on the theory that duck tape fixes everything and it won't be conspicuous since it will be underneath the countertop lip. Duck tape kept the old countertop functioning a couple of years beyond its normal life span, so maybe I should just start off right and get the duck tape in place BEFORE the MDF has a chance to get wet. ____________________________ I'm quite nervous about my method. There's a big online controversy over whether it's okay to use waterbased polycrylic on MDF - one person alleges that use of water based polycrylic will cause the MDF to separate from the laminate because hey, it's water based! - but others think it's okay, so I decided to try it. The two coats of polycrylic did cause the MDF grain to come up - it was smooth before and it's now rough to touch - but I don't know if that's good (because it absorbed the polycrylic and will now be impervious to water) or bad (because the nay-sayer who says it will cause the laminate to separate is correct.) I'll let you know in a year or so how the countertop is getting along and whether it is in peaceful co-existence with the kids!

Thanks for your reply, jon. You're right about the 5 hinges--I learned that at Woodcraft looking at Blum hinges. We're going back and forth in our minds--as I read about what would be involved in putting the 1/8" edging, which would evidently give a higher-end look to it and be tougher, I just don't think we have the ability technically or energy-wise right now (end of a 3 year remodel process.....). But when I think of edge-banding, I could do that with one hand tied behind my back at this point, although it would end up with not as refined a look. Guess we have to decide whether we'd rather use walnut with edge banding and have the gorgeous doors with less than fabulous banding, or have Ikea doors we don't like but would be *done* just by hanging. And re the screws in the particle board--"confirmat" screws are especially effective in particleboard, as are Inserta hinges...which we'd buy ourselves if we do the walnut, or which come with the Ikea doors automatically. Ugh. Decisions. I really appreciate your thought that edgebanding would be sufficient. Gives us more to think about.

If your long straightedge is bowing from the pressure of the router, you could support it in the middle by butting a two-foot-long scrap of particleboard (or almost anything, really) against the back of the straightedge and clamping it to the far side of the counter. That said, as long as the bow in the front edge is a smooth, even contour without abrupt jogs, it shouldn't cause any problem with the laminate. It might be better aesthetically if it were straight, but the laminate doesn't care if it's got a gentle curve in it. It's hard to imagine the counters are sagging on the sawhorses so much that they'll be permanently distorted by gluing laminate on them in that position. However, you'll need them fairly well supported for the glue up so you can lean some of your weight on the roller you use to press the glued surfaces together. For that reason alone it's worth supporting them well. You don't need a lot of sawhorses; I'd just put a couple of 2x4s on edge, on top of the sawhorses to provide even support along the whole length. You'll need to stabilize those 2x4s a bit, probably by nailing or screwing a couple of cross pieces between them, so they don't fall over flat at some inopportune moment. What size router do you have? There's nothing wrong with holding the router sideways except that you don't have practice doing it, and it could be difficult if you have a large, heavy router. The ones made for laminate trimming are small and light and can be held at odd angles with one hand. If you're stuck with a bigger, general-purpose router then it may be worth getting some help to set the pieces on edge as you described. You don't need a giant vise; just clamp it to some stable vertical object like a cabinet frame or the side of a sawhorse. When the clamp gets in the way, stop routing and repostition as necessary. Whichever way you go, if you've never done it before and you can't afford to goof, PRACTICE on some scrap!