What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however. Would you cut on the
top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line to be
cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for whatever
method is chosen?

TIA

"Cuprager" wrote in message
...
What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however. Would you cut on the
top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line to be
cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for whatever
method is chosen?

TIA

Use the circular saw. Cut with the worktop face down so that the teeth of
the blade are cutting up into the laminate surface.

I did this yesterday and it worked quite well - no masking tape used.

What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however.

The circular saw out of those two. It is not really possible to make a good
cut with a jigsaw, although they are fine for rough work that isn't visible,
such as sink cutouts.

For really decent cut, though, you should be looking at a 1/2" router,
having cut it about 3mm oversize with either jigsaw or circular.

Christian.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Dave wrote:

"Cuprager" wrote in message
...
What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however. Would you cut on
the top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line
to be cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for
whatever method is chosen?

TIA

Use the circular saw. Cut with the worktop face down so that the
teeth of the blade are cutting up into the laminate surface.

I did this yesterday and it worked quite well - no masking tape used.

As above, but use a fine sharp TCT blade (buy a new one if necessary) and
start at the front edge. Set the depth of cut only slightly more than the
worktop thickness. Clamp a strip on timber parallel with the cut line, at an
appropriate distance from it, to guide the saw.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Roger Mills (aka Set Square) wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Dave wrote:

"Cuprager" wrote in message
...
What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however. Would you cut on
the top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line
to be cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for
whatever method is chosen?

TIA

Use the circular saw. Cut with the worktop face down so that the
teeth of the blade are cutting up into the laminate surface.

I did this yesterday and it worked quite well - no masking tape used.

As above, but use a fine sharp TCT blade (buy a new one if necessary)
and start at the front edge. Set the depth of cut only slightly more
than the worktop thickness. Clamp a strip on timber parallel with the
cut line, at an appropriate distance from it, to guide the saw.

as above or use a /high quality/ jigsaw with a downcut blade. this method
worked a treat for me as I was unable to trun the worktops over when
I'd done the cut because the worktops are 3.6m long and therefore heavy
*and* unweildy. one has a standard sink cut out and the other a 900mm
hole for the 6 burner stainless hob.

if I'd have tried to turn them over after cutting them they would surely
have snapped and at £150 each I wasn't about to take that risk.

HtH

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
.. [email protected] wrote:

Roger Mills (aka Set Square) wrote:

As above, but use a fine sharp TCT blade (buy a new one if necessary)
and start at the front edge. Set the depth of cut only slightly more
than the worktop thickness. Clamp a strip on timber parallel with the
cut line, at an appropriate distance from it, to guide the saw.

as above or use a /high quality/ jigsaw with a downcut blade. this
method worked a treat for me as I was unable to trun the worktops
over when
I'd done the cut because the worktops are 3.6m long and therefore
heavy *and* unweildy. one has a standard sink cut out and the other a
900mm hole for the 6 burner stainless hob.

I suspect we're talking about 2 different sorts of cut. I was talking about
a straight full-width cut, as in cutting a worktop to the required length.
The edge will show, and needs to be very straight and square - *very*
difficult to achieve with a jigsaw. You are talking about cutting an
aperture for an inset sink, etc. - where the edge will be covered by a
flange. A jigsaw is fine for this - in fact far better than a circular saw
since it will cut rounded corners.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Roger Mills (aka Set Square) wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
. [email protected] wrote:

Roger Mills (aka Set Square) wrote:

As above, but use a fine sharp TCT blade (buy a new one if
necessary) and start at the front edge. Set the depth of cut only
slightly more than the worktop thickness. Clamp a strip on timber
parallel with the cut line, at an appropriate distance from it, to
guide the saw.

as above or use a /high quality/ jigsaw with a downcut blade. this
method worked a treat for me as I was unable to trun the worktops
over when
I'd done the cut because the worktops are 3.6m long and therefore
heavy *and* unweildy. one has a standard sink cut out and the other a
900mm hole for the 6 burner stainless hob.

I suspect we're talking about 2 different sorts of cut.

you're probably right :-)

Christian McArdle wrote:
What is the best method of cutting kitchen worktop to give a nice
straight edge? I have a hand held circular saw and a jigsaw, the
circular has a bit of an aggressive blade however.

You have to cut the top up with masking tape to protect the surface and
to show the pencil line if you use a jigsaw.

The circular saw out of those two. It is not really possible to make a good
cut with a jigsaw, although they are fine for rough work that isn't visible,
such as sink cutouts.

You need to do this outside on some strips of scantling packed level.

For really decent cut, though, you should be looking at a 1/2" router,
having cut it about 3mm oversize with either jigsaw or circular.

This is for a perfect finish with mitred cuts that are to be bolted
together form underneath. The othe cuts can be hand sawn if you are
putting plates over them.

Remember whatever you do that the worktp should be slightly oversize
and fit into a hacked out recess in the plasterwork if the walls are
not perfectly straight and square -which they never are.

I thought routers and jigs were the weapons of choice these days?

Regards

Mark

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 14:13:30 -0000
"Roger Mills \(aka Set Square\)" wrote:


I suspect we're talking about 2 different sorts of cut. I was talking
about a straight full-width cut, as in cutting a worktop to the
required length. The edge will show, and needs to be very straight
and square - *very* difficult to achieve with a jigsaw. You are
talking about cutting an aperture for an inset sink, etc. - where the
edge will be covered by a flange. A jigsaw is fine for this - in fact
far better than a circular saw since it will cut rounded corners.


What I do for these cuts is to make a rough cut with a down-cut jigsaw
to within about 5mm of the required length, then using a slamped-on
straight-edge as a guide, use a router to finish the edge. You need a
12.7mm collet router with a proper worktop cutter ideally. This gives
an edge so smooth that you can stick the edge laminate on without any
further finishing.

I do much the same for the apperture cuts. Make a jig out of 12mm ply
or MDF. Cut the hole with the jigsaw, then finish with a router and
jig - in this case I use a pattern bit with a top bearing - takes two
cuts. Then you can use the thin laminate designed for postformed
worktops to seal the edge.

Remember to paint a sealant onto the cut edge if it isn't going
to be laminate covered. Otherwise MDF or Chipboard will wick moisture
in and swell.

R.

Mark A wrote:
I thought routers and jigs were the weapons of choice these days?

Regards

Mark

Only when doing butt jointing.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Cuprager wrote:
Would you cut on
the top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line to
be cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for
whatever method is chosen?

Circular saw, cut from the back, use tape - and one of these
http://members.aol.com/woodmiser1/sawbd.htm


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
david lang wrote:

Cuprager wrote:
Would you cut on
the top or the bottom and would you put masking tape over the line to
be cut? I presume it would be best to clamp a straight edge for
whatever method is chosen?

Circular saw, cut from the back, use tape - and one of these
http://members.aol.com/woodmiser1/sawbd.htm


By "back", I presume you mean the underside. The cut needs to start from the
*front* rolled edge, and end at the edge which goes against the wall.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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