Commercial table tops

[Silverado]

Howdy forum members...

I've been asked to build 4 dozen table tops for a friend's restaurant & bar. The problem I need to solve is warpage.
He wants a solid wood look for the tops. Several of the ones currently in use look to be made of thick strips of oak glued up and mounted on a plywood base. Over time and restaurant use (read: spilled on and washed dozens of times daily) these have all warped in a cupping fashion along their width.

I'd like to hear your ideas on a method of construction and finishing which will prevent this on the new ones (and possibly allow ease of manufacture, since I have 48 to build).

I'm thinking of a plywood box, maybe 2" deep, with cross stiffeners inside, with the solid material (possibly hardwood flooring?) mounted on the top and edges. I thought of finishing these with stain and many coats of polyurethane on all sides.

What say you all? How would you build 'em?

[imported_Bob D.]

instead of poly how about using that bartop epoxy coating. I don't remember the name or manufacturer but I remember seeing it in HD and possibly Lowes, and probably available from a number of other places. It lays down a thick epoxy finish that would probably hold up better than poly. Someone else no doubt knows the stuff I am referring to and will have more info.

[BrianA]

A product that Bob may have meant and that I used when I made a log bed (used it to hold the bark on the logs) is called Liquid Wood by Abatron.
It comes in 2 cans and you mix them together. It is an epoxy. Very tough finish, has a bit of gloss and would be less work than multiple coats of other finishes.

Brian