Cutting laminex bench tops ..

[benchtopproblem]

I have purchased a couple of kitchen bench tops from Ikea that are already laminated and cut to a standard length - I need to trim them down to size and was wondering what type of saw / blade I would use to do this to avoid chipping the surface. They come supplied with a new strip of end covering laminex to cover the newly cut surface - is contact glue the best thing to stick this on with - thanks.

[royalty]

Hi ..i recently had 3 pieces of post form benchtop made and got them home to find the cabinet maker had made 2 of them 400mm to long... after much trial and error i used a trim cutter on the router and clamped a fence to the benchtops and did each one with 3 passes and supported the offcut ...i cut with the laminate face on top ...this worked well with no chipping of the laminate at all ....usually the stick on laminate to cover the cut edge is iron on ...hope this helps

[journeyman Mick]

Depends on how much you need to cut off them. If it's a lot, then jigsaw to about 5mm of the line, power planer to about .5mm of the line and then belt sander for the last bit. If it's only a small amount then just start with the planer. Contact adhesive is fine to stick the edging on with, it's what is comonly used to stick the laminate on to the top anyway.

Mick

[GraemeCook]

I have successfully used a variation of Micks method.

Cut benchtop about 4-5mm oversize. Then use router strait cutter to trim to final size - in my hands a router gives a better finish than an electric planer.

I also put the laminex/formica on a little oversize using contact adhesive on both surfaces. When dried, the excess laminex was then trimmed off using a strait cut router bit with a roller bearing.

This resulted in a very good finish.

Cheers

Graeme

[journeyman Mick]

Actually Graeme, your method is probably better, I just wrote what I did as that's how I do them on site (often without the belt sander). Saves time mucking around clamping up a straight edge for the router to run against.

Mick