How to cut laminate without chipping. Laminate is a thin, long-lasting laminated magazine cover commonly used in kitchens and bathrooms.
While the rainbow effect that lends it its name may be visible, most homeowners assume this material will always be white. This cannot be easy to match to your existing kitchen or bathroom.
While store-bought knobs and faucets, such as those from Delta Faucet, are constructed of plastic laminates, there are techniques to cut plastic laminate countertops yourself.
For starters, you can use a table or a handheld power saw, but if you have experience cutting through sheets of plastic laminate, you can also use a utility knife, a router, or even a hand slitter.
Keep these factors in mind when determining how to cut laminate countertops at home because choosing the wrong approach could result in unexpected effects!
How To Cut Laminate Without Chipping
We will discuss here the methods of cutting the laminate without chipping.
Method 1: Trimming Edges
Edge-trimming involves cleaning up hardwood laminate counters. You’ll want to use a rotary tool with a laminate routing bit that has a bearing on the side and can make it easy to go along the contours of your countertop.
You’ll need to consider that you should be moving the tool in a counterclockwise direction when cutting around outside edges unless you’re working around hole cutouts for sinks – then you move clockwise around those areas.
Method 2: Using the Handheld Power Saw
Power saws that are handheld cut on the upstroke, which means you will minimize chipping by placing your laminate face down and cutting from the back of the sheet.
To ensure a straight cut, you should construct a guide or jig. A simple way to do this is to place the sheet on a work table with an offcut hanging over the edge and clamping a straight piece of wood against it.
The straight part should be offset from where you want to make your cut by the distance between the edge of your saw’s footplate and the nearest blade.
Method 3: Using the Table Saw
Installers frequently cut whole sheets into manageable parts with a table saw. A fence that parallels the blade and supports the piece of material on all sides is critical for accuracy.
For many newcomers, however, this can be difficult because chipping can occur when cutting large lengths of timber or sheet goods, causing the piece to be damaged in ways that were not intended.
If your sheet is less than 8 feet long and you’re using a table saw, we recommend making smaller, slower cuts or utilizing butch tape.
FAQs
Can you cut laminate doors without chipping?
Use carbide-tipped blades for your laminate tasks since their thin, razor-sharp cutting surface ensures that they will cut cleanly through whatever you’re dealing with.
The triple chip tooth design is ideal for scoring an entire line before making a more serious cut. Straight lines become a lot easier to achieve.
Due to minimal or no chipping or breaking of your material, you’ll require less effort than other sorts of saws.
How many teeth do I need to cut laminate?
When using a blade for cutting laminate, a carbide tip is way better than steel as it lasts longer. Using a fine-toothed knife with 40 or more teeth helps make the cut smoother.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our article about how to cut laminate countertops. With this knowledge, we know that you can make the most of your kitchen. We’d love to help you create a space you’ll love for years!
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