Best way to cut hole for router plate in formica covered wor

[johngraves]

I have built a router table with a 38mm top which is covered with formica.
Having never worked with formica before I now need advice on the best way to cut the hole for the router plate.
Can anyone advise me on the best way forward please?

 

[Paul Chapman]

There's a good description of how to do it by Ron Fox on the Wealden site http://www.wealdentool.eu/rf_tips/rf_tips_20.html

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[johngraves]

Thanks for this. I was concerned about cutting through the formica.

 

[marcros]

i tend to use a silverline cutter for tasks such as this, then expect to bin it afterwards. there is probably a school of thought that says to use a decent cutter and you wont knacker it, but i would have to buy one just for the job and probably not use it again for a long time, so it isnt massively efficient to do so for me.

In my experience, the silverlines are good enough to manage the relatively small amount of cutting that you need to do on this task.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Thanks for this. I was concerned about cutting through the formica.

Shouldn't be a problem with a sharp TCT cutter - just take light cuts.

Cheers :wink:

Paul