John Greenwood wrote:

1. Is there any reason why I cannot cut the hole for my sink in-situ, i.e.
with the worktop in place and screwed to the carcasses. This seems easier to
me, avoids having to move the worktop and risking it breaking due to it
being weakened by the cut out.

Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the lamintate off.

You could use a downcut blade, but IMO they are difficult to
use, and don't produce great results (because they're constantly
pushing the jigsaw away from the surface).

The worktop won't break unless you're very careless, they're
pretty strong.


2. Should I seal all exposed chipboard? Is so with what varnish or PAVE?

I use PVA, others use silicone. Both will work fine.


3. Once in place should I seal the edge with a silicone sealant before or
after I tile. I think maybe before but then what do I do after it has been
tiled? Seal it again?

Is the sink sitting on top of the tiles?

--
Grunff

John Greenwood wrote:
Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the laminate off.


I was going to use a downcut blade and I assumed the sink lip would be wide
enough to hide any chipped laminate.

It's perfectly doable, but I think it complicates things
unnecessarily - it's mych nice cutting worktop from underneath
with an upcut blade.


No sorry, the tiles are on the wall behind the worktop. So when to seal with
silicone before or after I tile?

I'm sorry, I still don't understand. Is the sink butting up
against the wall tiles? Otherwise why would it make any
difference whether you seal before or after tiling?

--
Grunff

I'm sorry, I still don't understand. Is the sink butting up
against the wall tiles? Otherwise why would it make any
difference whether you seal before or after tiling?

Forget the sink, pretend it was never mentioned!

I mean sealing the whole worktop along where it meets the wall.


"Grunff" wrote in message
...
John Greenwood wrote:
Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the laminate off.


I was going to use a downcut blade and I assumed the sink lip would be
wide
enough to hide any chipped laminate.

It's perfectly doable, but I think it complicates things
unnecessarily - it's mych nice cutting worktop from underneath
with an upcut blade.


No sorry, the tiles are on the wall behind the worktop. So when to seal
with
silicone before or after I tile?

I'm sorry, I still don't understand. Is the sink butting up
against the wall tiles? Otherwise why would it make any
difference whether you seal before or after tiling?

--
Grunff

In article ,
Grunff wrote:

Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the lamintate off.

I did ours this way. Used a normal blade (can't get on with the downcut
ones) in a decent pendulum jigsaw and took my time. Only very minor
chipping and easily covered by the sink.

I suspect that going slowly helped and the key was to use a decent blade
in a decent jigsaw. Not sure how my cheap saw would have coped. I guess it
depends on the sink somewhat as well :-)

I use PVA, others use silicone. Both will work fine.

Yep. I used silicone - been fine for 5 yrs so far.

Darren

John Greenwood wrote:

Forget the sink, pretend it was never mentioned!

Right! Ok, what I normally do is put a load of silicone on the
cut edge and squish the worktop against the wall so that the
silicone oozes out of the top, wipe it off, then tile when it's set.

--
Grunff

"John Greenwood" wrote
| I was going to use a downcut blade and I assumed the sink lip would be
wide
| enough to hide any chipped laminate.

It probably would be, but the distance between the cut line and the wall or
front edge of the worktop might not be enough to allow free clearance for
the jigsaw body or adequate support. You might get 3/4rs of the way round
and find the jigsaw hits the wall and you're stuck.

Owain

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
John Greenwood wrote:

1. Is there any reason why I cannot cut the hole for my sink in-situ,
i.e.
with the worktop in place and screwed to the carcasses. This seems
easier to
me, avoids having to move the worktop and risking it breaking due to it
being weakened by the cut out.

Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the lamintate off.

You could use a downcut blade, but IMO they are difficult to
use, and don't produce great results (because they're constantly
pushing the jigsaw away from the surface).

snip

They work beautifully with a nice, heavy Atlas Copco industrial jigsaw.....
;-)

Think that the trick is to position yourself so that you've got you body
weight bearing down on the jigsaw - I agree that they're more difficult to
control, but positively preventing any vertical movement of the jigsaw seems
to do the trick.

Failing that, score deeply (taking care not to slip and mark visible
sections of worktop) on the cut line and just just to the inside of it.

cheers
Richard
--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 10:17:46 +0100, Grunff wrote:

Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the lamintate off.

One way of preventing chipping is to heavily score the laminate just
outside the cut line before cutting. That way any chipping goes only
as far as the scoring.

Alternatively, do a rough cut fairly close to where the sink hole is
required, then take the final couple of mm off with a router. If you
were to run the router base along a straight edge then the finished
article is a neat vertical cut - jigsaws can wander a bit and (often)
the result looks poor.

However if using a router then doing the work outside is a high
priority - routers tend to produce quite a lot of dust and being
manmade I wonder whether it might be carcigenous (I know MDF is). You
don't want that dust lying around the house.

PoP

As a professional worktop installer I always cut the sink hole away from the
units

I use a circular saw to cut the straight runs & jig saw for curves &
corners. Use a good jig saw, with a fine tooth SHARP/NEW blade, I use a pro
bosch jig saw with a127D blade, get about 4 sink or hob holes per blade.
It is a bit of a knack plunging a circular saw into a worktop, easier if you
are left handed, you need a blade with lots of tungsten tipped teeth, mine
cost around £60 each. If you try it hang on tight it will want to move
backwards, & make sure the guard works EVERY time

To safely handle the worktop with the cut out/s made turn it on its edge,
stiffer that way up, don't do anything sudden, its the shock that makes it
whip & snap.

fit the sink [not pottery or china] while the top is off the units, you can
get to the screws easier that way

always put wide masking tape on the top to draw your lines & stop the sole
plate marking the laminate, particularly on that gloss stuff.

I use decorators caulk, an acrylic type mastic to seal all raw edges, spread
it with a filling knife, make sure all the small holes in the cut edge are
filled.

Ask a pro tiler the best way to seal the top for tiles.

As for MDF dust you wont get any, worktops are chipboard, over 70% of my
work is indoors, it is either raining or the tops are too difficult/large to
get outside.

--
regards
Dave Batter
Kitchenman
www.kitchenman.co.uk
www.sxmitres.info
www.marks-family.co.uk
http://oneandone.co.uk/xml/init?k_id=5568652
"dmc" wrote in message ...
In article ,
Grunff wrote:

Yes, there is a reason - you'll most likely be cutting it with a
jigsaw, so you need to cut from below in order to avoid tearing
the lamintate off.

I did ours this way. Used a normal blade (can't get on with the downcut
ones) in a decent pendulum jigsaw and took my time. Only very minor
chipping and easily covered by the sink.

I suspect that going slowly helped and the key was to use a decent blade
in a decent jigsaw. Not sure how my cheap saw would have coped. I guess it
depends on the sink somewhat as well :-)

I use PVA, others use silicone. Both will work fine.

Yep. I used silicone - been fine for 5 yrs so far.

Darren



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.515 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 01/09/03