kitchen worktop

[caretaker]

Just a small question on worktops.
I am going to cut some worktops on my table saw (cheep B & Q ).
What side up do I cut.
1. shiny top side up.
2. bottom up.
I have failed with a jig saw and need strait cuts.

 

[Arcless]

Shiny Side Up.

The tablesaw blade rotates and cuts through, therefore causes tear-out (splintering on hard materials like worktop formica). Also, if at all possible cut from the front (bullnose) to the back for the same reason.

Do you have a router, you could slightly overcut the length then trim with a deepreach cutter and guide, or several stepped cuts with a shorted cutter.

Hope it helps.

 

[caretaker]

Thanks for the speedy reply Arcless, most helpful...

 

[motownmartin]

I cut my Kitchen worktops on a table saw (shiny side up) and got a clean cut, mind you it was an 80 tooth Freud blade, then fitted an Oak trimming.

Like so, excuse the poor photos

 

[mister henderson]

I cut my Kitchen worktops on a table saw (shiny side up) and got a clean cut, mind you it was an 80 tooth Freud blade, then fitted an Oak trimming.

Like so, excuse the poor photos

How did you get the oak flush with the laminate after gluing it?

 

[motownmartin]

I cut my Kitchen worktops on a table saw (shiny side up) and got a clean cut, mind you it was an 80 tooth Freud blade, then fitted an Oak trimming.

Like so, excuse the poor photos

How did you get the oak flush with the laminate after gluing it?

I fixed it by putting a groove in both the worktop and the trim then made a strip of wood to insert into the grooves, most of it ended up flush but there was a few bits where I ran the router round with a trimming cutter (bearing on the end).
I also used the router to cut the grooves.

 

[OPJ]

What if you were to add a zero-clearance plate to your table saw, or even fix a sheet of 3mm hardboard over the top? That could help stop the splintering on the underside.

With a stationary table saw, you want the good side facing upwards (same on the bandsaw). But, if you were to use a portable circular saw, then you'd have the good side facing down.

 

[neilyweely]

Hold on a minute there.

when i cut kitchen worktops, which I do for a living, I always cut with the melamine surface down, so the rotation of the saw cuts INTO the laminate, therefore there is something behind the laminate supporting it
(the worktop main body).
I think this is what Arcless meant, but if you cut shiny side up you will not get a clean cut, or at least you are far less likely to.
Sometimes I will put a length of masking tape along the cut line; it makes the line easier to see and I think it can also prevent splintering.
You MUST always take the saw, or for that matter a router too, into the worktop cutting the faced edhe first, in other words from the faced edge toward the bare edge. This is for the same reason as above, recently I witnessed a colleague cut a worktop and as he finished the cut he blew the edge of the laminate off the edge. It was absolutely unworkable, there was no alternative but to replace the whole board.

Don't take my word for it, the literature with the worktop should agree with me.

 

[Argee]

Hold on a minute there.

when i cut kitchen worktops, which I do for a living, I always cut with the melamine surface down, so the rotation of the saw cuts INTO the laminate, therefore there is something behind the laminate supporting it
(the worktop main body).

The OP spoke of cutting worktops on his tablesaw, whereas you must be referring to using your circular saw - rotation directions are opposite (in use), so that you're using what is effectively the back of a tablesaw blade (see OPJ's post above)

Ray.

 

[neilyweely]

oh my days, argee I stand corrected.
Twofold- I didn't read the entry properly, and as a new tablesaw owner I must admit I didn't know the blade rotates the other way.
Now sir I have to ask you if I should be considering the tablesaw for worktop cuts. I have a very good Circ saw (hilti 265), and a relatively cheap table saw (ryobi ets1525sc). Assuming I was competent with both would I be better off with the table saw?

Thankyou for correcting me.

 

[9fingers]

Assuming you would be working with up to 3m lengths of worktop then cutting with a circular saw and cleaning up with a router is going to be best.

If you had a humongous tables saw that could support 3m of worktop and had a sliding carriage then use the TS (which would be called a panel saw by then!)

Bob

 

[Digit]

Somebody who does the job for a living will normally have invested in the best for the job, such as down cut jigsaw blades. Those of us who might do a particular job once in a blue Moon may not have so invested in either the tools or the skills.
Under those circumstances the safest way is to use a router. Even in the absence of a deep cut bit the job can be done by running the router along a straight edge then turning the job over and cutting that which is left with a router bit fitted with a bearing follower.

Roy.

 

[caretaker]

Well I've done it, 6 cuts with the shiny side up on the table saw, did get a very small bit of splintering but hope I will get away with that.
I first tried cutting it with the jig saw, boy what a mistake that was, I then ferried the badly cut worktops 60 miles in the back of my car to my work shop/shed and did it there, will return with the nice cut pieces in 2 weeks time.
This must be the longest anyone has taken to fit a kitchen, I started in January.

 

[9fingers]

Thats a very long garden you have Reg
:lol: :lol:

Bob

 

[Anonymous]

This must be the longest anyone has taken to fit a kitchen, I started in January.

Err.. nope, I started mine about a year ago (been without a proper cooker that long) and still only got two base units in. I keep changing my mind where to to put what.

 

[Argee]

I have a very good Circ saw (hilti 265), and a relatively cheap table saw (ryobi ets1525sc). Assuming I was competent with both would I be better off with the table saw?

I have a good table saw and a good circular saw too, but I generally use the circular saw to roughly cut to length (laminate face down), then finish with my router.

If I haven't got the luxury of rough cutting (i.e., the length is critical), I go straight for the router. The only reason I'd use the table saw would be for rough cutting to length a suitably small piece that could be safely handled on the saw top (laminate face up).

The blades do rotate in the same direction into the workpiece, but because a table saw is - effectively - upside down compared to a circular saw, the table saw blade rotates towards the operator from above, whereas the circular saw rotates towards the operator from below, so the cut surface direction is changed.

Ray.

 

[George_N]

Well I've done it, 6 cuts with the shiny side up on the table saw, did get a very small bit of splintering but hope I will get away with that.
I first tried cutting it with the jig saw, boy what a mistake that was, I then ferried the badly cut worktops 60 miles in the back of my car to my work shop/shed and did it there, will return with the nice cut pieces in 2 weeks time.
This must be the longest anyone has taken to fit a kitchen, I started in January.

I wouldn't dream of cutting Worktop on a table saw if it was more than 1 m long. As the others have said, rough cut with hand-held CS or jig saw and dress it with a router and straight edge. Most worktop jigs will allow you to do a straight end cut with a router.
By the way my kitchen re-fit is at 18 months and counting. SWMBO keeps diverting me with things like moving electrical sockets so that we can re-position wardrobes etc. etc. etc. Small jobs that end up taking all weekend.

 

[Digit]

Ah! The dreaded five minute job George. Takes me longer than that to find out where son and heir left the damn tools!

Roy.