Goose.. Thanks man! Yeah, I was a man on a mission during Christmas! And we had a warm fall so the hands where still working. LOL.
I bought some melamine shelving. I glued 2) 3/4" pieces together and screwed with long screws.. so it would get a good bite. Then grind-ed off the excess length of screw. This time, I used smooth on epoxy to seal up the open edges.. let it dry up and final sanded it. Then used some glazing putty (for auto body work) to fill in any small imperfections.
I think this one will hold true. We shall see.