I also have a full woodworking setup (I'm in the process of building a solid oak dining room table), but you can muddle through without one if you have to. $20 is
way too much for a square foot of wood.
If you don't have the table saw for Gino's suggestion you can get a simple piece of wood and put moulding around the edges to give it some character. At that point all you need is a 45-degree mitre saw, and for moulding the tiny one you use for modeling should be big enough. The simplest solution is to get 3/4" MDF and some 3/4" quarter round moulding in oak. Paint the base, add your ground material (anything wet/messy) and then add the trim around the outside edges.
I'd put masking tape on one of the two flat edges of the quarter round, urethane it with 2 coats and then use yellow glue to attach it to the edge of the MDF. It'll look great, won't cost much of anything, and can be done with inexpensive hand tools.
Of course, if you want to keep paying $20/sq foot for them, I'm sure Gino or I could sell them to you
![Big Smile [:D]](/FSM/CS/emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif)