Table insert material

[corymike]

I finally finished refurbishing my old Delta that sat in my dads barn for several years. It took many hours to restore the working surface of the table, it was rusted and heavily pitted, smooth as a babys backside now though. She runs smooth, and I upgraded the dust blower adding an aquarium pump to keep things clear. Had to fabricate a couple of pieces, but all in all a fairly straight forward restore. The one piece that is long gone is the table insert. I have no qualms with fabricating a new one, I would just like to know what the best choice of material would be? I can work sheet metal, plaexiglas, wood, even plastic, I just don't really want to end up making several trying to find the right stuff. Any suggestions?

[pat c]

I use wood, anything with very little grain. Maple is a good choice. 1/4 - 3/8" All mine have been round so I've cut them to size using a circle cutter in the drill press then cut a rabbet around the edge to make it fit flush. I always make 2 or 3 to fit when I do them.

Pat

[Kepy]

Aluminum is a good choice.