I have a melamine on tempered hardboard panel which is stuck to
drywall with an adhesive.

A section of the panel has been torn off, leaving a ragged and uneven
edge.

How do I cut the edge so I install a new section which will butt
against the cut edge of the panel on the wall without a noticeable
gap? (I don't have a circular-saw or a jigsaw).

"gcotterl" wrote in message
...
I have a melamine on tempered hardboard panel which is stuck to
drywall with an adhesive.

A section of the panel has been torn off, leaving a ragged and uneven
edge.

How do I cut the edge so I install a new section which will butt
against the cut edge of the panel on the wall without a noticeable
gap? (I don't have a circular-saw or a jigsaw).


You will probably have to replace the dry wall behind what ever you have
stuck to it. Use a dry wall saw to cut out the section. Dry wall is cheap
and so is the dry wall hand saw.

On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:20:42 -0800 (PST), gcotterl
wrote:

How do I cut the edge so I install a new section which will butt
against the cut edge of the panel on the wall without a noticeable
gap? (I don't have a circular-saw or a jigsaw).

A circular saw or jigsaw won't get you near enough of a straight line
to conform to your unnoticeable requirement. Being tool constricted,
you can use a razor knife with repeated strokes to cut the offending
piece so you can remove it. At that point, all I can suggest is to use
a template to outline a perfect 90° rectangular section and cut that
out. Then use a reverse sized interior template to cut the melamine
square for replacement. If you have it, the replacement melamine piece
can be perfectly edged by a router bit using a roller bearing riding
on a straight edge.

Understand though, no matter how careful you are and how much you work
on the seam between the two, you're always going to be able to see
that seam with a close inspection.