Cutting Formica

[LouR]

Can someone suggest a good 10 blade for cutting formica. i am worried about chipping it during cutting! thanks

[Doug Miller]

Please turn off HTML in Outlook Express before you post again. Thanks.

We had a lively discussion about cutting formica last summer or fall. If you do a Google search on this newsgroup, you should find it easily.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Slowhand]

Freud makes such a blade that works well on melamine and platic laminates. I own one. It works. SH

[Lowell Holmes]

"Slowhand"

[Leon]

I use a Forrest WWII.

With that in mind I only raise it high enough to cut through the material. This particular cut SHOULD NOT be the final cut. Cut the piece oversized and trim with a flush trim router bit after glue down. Minor chiping along the edge is removed with the over hang that is removed with the flush trim router bit.

[Lew Hodgett]

chipping it during cutting!

Can't comment on 10" saw blades except to say a standard 80 tooth blade is a POS for this job. but in days of yore, cut up a lot of WilsonArt using an just an old fashioned pair of tins snips (NOT the aviation type).

Cut the laminate piece about 1/2"-3/4" oversize to allow 1/4"-3/8" overhang all around which also insures that any chipping is in the waste.

Trim to size with a router bit or a 10" flat bastard file.

BTW, there is a very neat dedicated machine if you need to cut a lot of strips, say like a refacer would need to take to the job site.

HTH

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

Next time, try a 10" flat bastard.

Faster and neater results than with a mill bastard.

BTW, I didn't invent this one, stole it from somebody else.

HTH

Lew

[Dave Jackson]

This is gonna sound crazy, but when i worked in a cabinet shop some years ago, the best way I found to cut it was to put the blade in the table saw on backward and cut away. I still do this on occasion, and it does work in a pinch. Just make sure to turn the blade back around before cutting anything other than sheet laminate! --dave

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 14:20:20 -0500, the inscrutable "LouR" spake:

it during cutting!

Bare laminate? I got an amazingly smooth, clean cut with Ryobi's stock 24-tooth combo blade in the cordless circular saw. That really surprised me. I think I still have a piece kickin' around if you'd like to see the edge. I rough-cut it and glued it onto the 1/2" Baltic birch ply, routed the edges flush, then sanded the extremely sharp edge down to a safe level with 220 grit.

Suggestion: Use any old saw blade to rough it, then finish up with a pattern router bit (long 1/2" straight cutter with bearing guide.)

-- Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud. ----

Comprehensive Website Development

[LouR]

thank you so much for your help, i realized you probably had disussed this subject before. sorry for going over it again, my thanks to you all.

[Lyle]

Gotta love people like Doug Miller. heres a person that cant give a fellow woodchip friend some information he is seeking but, he is more then willing to bark out an arrogant message saying, we already had a lively discussion about this. and then gives this guy a place to go find his answer to his question. Doug your such and Asshole, thats not what groups like this is all about. its about helping anyone with, and yes...same old imformation sometimes. what a jerk off you are!

[Slowhand]

Works good in a skilsaw too (backwards) for cutting plastic pipe. SH