laminate trimming?

for many years as an old bugger now i have hand trimmed laminate such as the end of kitchen worktops…..if i want to power up so to speak and cut laminates with power tools am i better to use a small router with the relevant cutter blade or buy a specialised laminate cutter i am wary of the router when cutting the rounded edge..anyway any advice welcome

A regular router with a laminate trimming bit will get the job done but you’ll probably have a difficult time with it. A laminate trimmer, which is essentially a small router also called a palm router, is what is used by professionals to get a professional looking countertop. They are much lighter and easier to handle than a regualr sized router. If you tip the router it will cause the blade to dig into your laminate. Because a laminate trimmer is easier to handle you will be less likely to have this problem leaving you with a nice clean line in your laminate.

Bosch offers a nice laminate trimmer with a 5.7 amp motor that is larger than any other laminate trimmer. It be used with other smaller cutters to handle plenty of other woodworking tasks.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=16819&sid=AFN56

There are a few other things you’ll want to get : a laminate trimmer bit, some pariffin wax and a file.

A laminate trim bit with an angle helps reduce the amount of filing you’ll need to do. Just be sure to set it in your trimmer so there is a sliver of overhang. This is important when you have you are joining two piece of laminate together like the front edge and the top if you have a squared off counter. In this case you will have to run the bit along the laminated edge and you don’t want the bit to cut into it only the top piece you are trimming.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5414&sid=AFN56

The sliver of overhang will need to be filed flush with the edge. This is where the file comes into play. This is also one of the hardest parts of laminate work to get the hang of. Most newbie tend to “burn” there edge up by digging the file to deep. When done correctly the overhanging laminate should be flush with the edge and still have a nice straight line where the two are joined.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11124&sid=AFN56

Also in the case of a joined edge you will want to rub the edge that the bit is running along with pariffin wax. With the speed the router bit is spinning it will easily burn into the edge it is running along. Parrafin wax rubbed along this edge will prevent this from happening. You must keep the router moving nice and steadily. The bit will burn through the edge if the router is stopped in one spot for too long. Parrifin wax can be found in most grocery store where the canning supplies are for cheap.

Having done this for years the whole process is fairly simple to me but can be overwhelming for someone who has never done it. If you have a seam in your laminate (two pieces of laminate butted against each other) and you have never done laminate seams, you will want to get a professional to take care of the job for you. A professional seam will hardly be noticed unlees it is examined very closely. Also you need to know how to keep the seams from splitting under different humidity conditions.

Jeremy

http://www.woodworking-machinery-and-tools.com

MFK700