i'm just going to treat it like a car panel and i'm using car spray paint from halfords, i'd have really liked to go all out and get proper paint for my spray gun but i can't justify the extra cost of a big tub of lacquer, primer and thinners when i have no plans to spray anything in the near future.

any kind of primer/filler primer/hi-build primer will easily seal mdf and i've been taught to use that stuff and seen it work many times. infact the white you see on the desk at the moment is just white waterbased undercoat from bnq and the only reason i used that is it's all i had and i wanted to smooth of this edge as i plan to use the desk for a bit before i paint it and last time i did this i got a rash on my arms from the bare mdf.


with regards the mouse mat, what i plan to do some time in the future when i get my cnc running is make a template the same outer shape as my mouse mat (steel series frosted glass gaming surface) that i can use one of these bits with Toolstation > Power Tool Accessories > Router Bits > Router Bit Template Cutter and i'd use the template to help me recess a place in the desk for my mouse mat but at the moment i havnt got the time or patience to do that by hand as i know it's a pain in the ass