Thanks for the advice relative to seaming. I don't use the wavy bit, but do use the backer plate that seems offer a lot of glue surface below. With six jobs, I've not had a seam fail, so with luck, I am doing well.thus far.
Thanks for your response. By the way, do you use MDF as the substrate or some sort of plywood? Or does it depend on the situation (e.g. MDF under most conditions and plywood when one is doing some unsupported thing such as the overhang on a bar)?
The reason why some of the laminate flooring (commercial grade Wilsonart for example) stands up so well, is that the first layer is made from the third-hardest stuff on the planet. VERY scratch resistant. Add to that the newer textures and superb photographic processes to duplicate/imitate granites and you have a very durable, pretty damned nice looking countertop for not a whole lot of money. Put a solid surface edge on it, with a CounterSeal undermount sink-ring in the matching solid surface and the look is very classy... for about
25% of a granite top. The Formica 'Etchings' series is bloody gorgeous. Nothing wrong with plam. Besides, it's low-cost enough that you won't cry ripping it out after
5-7 years and start fresh with new colours. Buy a solid surface top and you're decorating around IT.
MANY combos are possible, but this one looks just bloody incredible:
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a Staron Sanded Onyx edge----> downright classy. Get the GP grade of laminate. Mount on MDF 3/4" I have some samples of that set-up that I can photograph and e-mail. Contact me via my site
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Lucky for the DIY-guy, many distributors will sell 1-3/4"-wide strips of solid surface to anybody. They also sell 5 3/4" wide strips so you can cut off the front strip and have a nice backsplash left over. Backsplashes made from 1/2" thick Solid Surfacing follow the walls nicely. The strips are usually sold 2 x 6' so they're UPS-able.
If you take a look at this graphic:
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replace the part which is indicated as 'CounterSeal' with a strip of SS 1 1/2" tall, there is your edge.
Those solid surface rings, to undermount a sink, are not cheap but the result is superb. (I would sink the money into a high-grade Franke sink drop-in instead of the CounterSeal, because the ring is tricky to install. It's different for a fabricator who will get to use the experience and tooling/templates over and over again. Blanco makes a line of sinks which are drop-ins and are made from a black composite which looks a lot like solid surface.
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you finish that off with a dropped down small round-over bit, the dark line from the P-lam will blend in with the solid surface edge and virtually disappear. The edge is splined on with SS adhesive.
Integra Adhesives will sell just one tube with a cheapie dispenser, so your tooling outlay will be minimal. Call them and tell them what you're up to.
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even have an adaptor which will convert a regular caulking gun into a mixer-type for some of their cartridges.
WARNING! The results will look so good, your friends and family will all want one. You will need that Festool router after all!
P-Lam, short for High Pressure Laminate. HP-lam, plam.
I support the periphery only. Overhang is legal to about 6" unsupported. These are specs for acrylics. When dealing with overhangs beyond 6", 3/4" plywood to an overhang of about 10", then it's brackets and/or legs.
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