Making Laminate Countertops This complicated thread combines a healthy helping of newbie advice with some advanced debating about seam location, plus a couple of pro fabricator tips.August 16, 2012
Laminate Windowsills Shrinking in Service Particleboard cores of laminate architectural elements can shrink in place due to seasonal changes in interior humidity. September 5, 2010
Correcting High Spots on Laminate Tops Tiny bits of debris left on the matching surfaces during glue-up can cause high spots to show on a laminate top. Here are tips on how to prevent that, and how to fix it when it does happen. March 29, 2006
Using Water-Based Contact Cements When you switch from solvent-based to water-based contact cement, there are a few new things to learn. Pros share application tips in this thread from the Woodweb Adhesives Forum. July 2, 2005
Repairing Bubbles in a Laminate Countertop You can fix a contact-cement adhesion problem with a hot iron. Also, here is some advice on contact cement application equipment. August 15, 2011
Re-Covering a Laminate Top Advice on handling the edge detail when applying new laminate over old. December 24, 2009
Laminate Countertop Seam Tolerances Customers may not be aware of industry standards for laminate seams; a third opinion is sometimes helpful. November 12, 2006
Diamond tooling on laminate Tool life and feed rates when using diamond tooling to cut laminate. November 7, 2001
Working With Aluminum Laminate Aluminum laminate can be very difficult to rout, trim, and file. Here's a story of lessons learned by one fabricator. August 14, 2007
Making a Wood Edge Flush with a Laminate Top Flushing up the top surface of a wood-edged laminate countertop is tricky, any way you do it. Here are some suggestions. April 10, 2007
Laminate Trimming Tips and Tricks You work with laminate, you do a lot of edge trimming. Here are some tricks the smooth professionals use. April 11, 2008
Laminate Trimming Technique Bit selection and lubricant choice for trouble-free trimming of countertop edges. March 14, 2006
Applying Laminate to a Curved Wall Installers puzzle over how to seam sections of laminate applied to a curved wall as an architectural covering. July 15, 2009
Quality Control with Gloss Laminates It's hard to get laminate flat enough that imperfections won't show, when the surface is glossy. February 27, 2015
Making a Miter-Fold Joint Here's a detailed description of how to make a miter-fold corner with laminate material. July 3, 2008
Repairing Solid Surface Seams An imperfect seam poses problems for a countertop installer. Here's the story, along with advice for fixing seams in place. November 13, 2005
Slip Sheet Material Choices Countertop fabricators discuss dowels, "slip sheet" materials, and other options for aligning materials to substrates after applying contact cement.January 14, 2013
Laminate Door Fabrication Tips Advice on applying laminate to glazed MDF cabinet doors, with some words about edgebanding and lacquer detailing. November 13, 2005
Splinters Under Laminate How to remove splinters that are telegraphing through freshly-applied laminate, and tips on avoiding the problem next time. November 12, 2006
Laminate on One Face of Melamine A debate over whether it's okay to apply laminate to just one face of a melamine panel for cabinets and cabinet doors. March 26, 2009
Rubber T-Mold Tips and Tricks Trimming, fitting, and touch-up tricks for T-mold on the edge of laminate tops. March 9, 2010
Site Cutting and Mitering Postform Countertops Handling these tricky miter cuts on site when the fabricating shop went out of business in mid-job proved less than fully satisfactory. July 16, 2012
Stacking Laminations in a Vacuum Bag Stacking multiple pieces in one vacuum bag to save time increases the likelihood that pieces will not be under sufficient pressure. March 16, 2015
Joints in Very Long Laminate Tops Advice on fabricating and assembling large countertops so that laminate joints fall over solid substrate rather than at the substrate joints. May 3, 2011
Laminate Cutting and Seaming This thread describes a router jig for making clean cuts and seams in HPL joints. June 12, 2014
Removing Glue Film from Laminate Wiping off glue squeeze-out has dulled the sheen on some laminate tops. Here are suggested remedies. February 25, 2009
Interruptions, Interruptions What can you do if you've applied contact cement to your particleboard, but then something happens before you apply the laminate? February 3, 2011
Is a Solid Surface Crack Fixable? Seaming a solid surface countertop over a heat source such as a dishwasher may cause a crack that can't be repaired. March 4, 2009
Water-Based Glue, Lamination, and Warping Using water-based adhesives for laminating to wood-fiber panels can cause the panels to warp. To prevent, laminate both sides. May 20, 2006
Filing Laminate Edges Pros give pointers on ways to file laminate counter edges smooth. July 29, 2007
Trimming and Filing Laminate Edges Advice on the bits, lubricants, and methods to use for smooth corners on laminate countertops with laminate front edges. September 15, 2011
Working with Water-Based Laminate Adhesive Roll out with a low-nap roller, and don't let the glue or a new countertop freeze. The good news: no odor or headaches. October 28, 2005
Troubleshooting Warping and Delaminating Using a heat tunnel during fabrication of laminate tops can cause the top to warp because of temperature-related expansion and contraction of the laminate. March 13, 2009
Seam Detailing for a Deep Solid-Surface Countertop An 80-inch by 38-inch countertop made with 30-inch maximum width solid surface panels creates some head-scratching about where and how to make the seam. May 23, 2007
Solid Surface for Cabinet Doors Combining wood with solid-surface material raises risk related to movement caused by moisture or temperature changes. June 30, 2009
Tight Heat-Bending Laminate Here's a short but informational conversation on applying heat to laminate in order to accomplish tight bends. July 26, 2010
Cutting Post-Form Laminate Tops If you don't have a slider, you can cut the top from the back side with a circular saw. November 14, 2014
Filing Laminate Edges Left-Handed Files are mostly designed for the right-handed craftsman, but a left-hander can file as well as a right-hander after practice. June 12, 2014
A High-Gloss Finish for Solid Surface Here's a polishing schedule for buffing solid surfacing to a high gloss, along with a warning (it scratches easily). November 13, 2005
Applying Laminate to a Radius Tradesmen explain handwork techniques for fitting laminate to radiused postform countertops. June 20, 2005
Laminate Trimming Tips Two quick tips on a clean job when trimming laminate edges. December 15, 2005
Post-Forming Laminate in Three Dimensions You can't bend laminate to around a compound curved substrate, but there are other specialized materials that will do it. December 1, 2010
Bank Job (Refacing Laminate) Thoughts about the pitfalls and difficulties involved in resurfacing a whole bankful of laminate countertops. February 23, 2008
Bracing solid surface When using solid surface materials, what sort of "bridgework" is needed for support? June 24, 2001
Bevel-Edge Delamination with MDF Troubleshooting an adhesion problem with laminate and MDF: is it the glue, or the substrate? October 12, 2009
Heating Laminate for Postforming A question about a slight delamination problem prompts a long set of tips about effective heating for postforming. February 1, 2015
Poured Inlay Work in Solid Surface Advise on using heat, additives, and other tricks to get good results with routing and pouring details into a solid surface top. July 16, 2012
Basics of Applying Laminate A beginner gets the basic introductory explanation of how to apply laminate to a particleboard top. January 18, 2011
Hand Filing and Laminate Trimming Bits The right bit can reduce the need for cleaning up edges with a hand file, but may not eliminate touch-up filing altogether. May 13, 2009
Bending Corian How to bend Corian to create small cylindrical shapes. June 24, 2001
More on Spray-Applying Contact Cement An extended discussion of pressurized tanks, spray equipment, application techniques, and adhesive performance. June 10, 2006
Water Damage to Laminate Counter Seams A miter seam in a countertop near a seam is a risky situation. Here, pros consider a case of joint failure. July 3, 2008
Best glue for cold-clamped edging? Adhesive options for gluing and clamping edges on panels, with an eye toward time-efficiency. September 26, 2000
Rough P-Lam Edges, Specs, and AWI Standards A bad case of chip-out on some laminated door edges leads to an informative discussion of AWI standards and quality specifications, along with some good guesses about what caused the unacceptable chip-out. November 23, 2012
AWI Quality Standards and Balanced Lamination Here's a long discussion of good practice for making laminate cabinet doors, and what the Architectural Woodworking Institute's quality certification standards require. September 27, 2008
On-Site Laminate Cutting Tips and Tricks Cabinet re-facing work calls for a lot of cut-and-fit laminate work. Here's a long discussion of ways to go about the task. May 6, 2007
Making Concrete Countertops Fabricating concrete countertops is not rocket science, but it takes practice — and it isn't cheap. March 26, 2007
Laminate Cabinet Tips Advice (sometimes conflicting) about how to build high-quality laminate cabinets. July 5, 2006
Cutting a Post-Formed Laminate Countertop Hiring the job out to a well-equipped countertop shop is your best bet — but here's how to do it with an installer's toolkit. February 8, 2008
Edgebanding Glue Holding Problems Cold melamine stored in the unheated shop overnight may be stopping edgebander glue from adhering properly. March 20, 2006
Wood Edge Detail for a Laminate Countertop Laminate trimming, edge attachment, and rounding-over technique for a wood edge on a laminate counter or table top. January 24, 2006
Laminate Application Basics Tips on adhesives and trimming for a newcomer to plastic laminate work. December 30, 2005
Melamine/Laminate Panels A discussion of practical ways of building cabinets with melamine exteriors and laminate interiors. October 13, 2010
Edge-Banding Issues with Laminated Doors Minor thickness variations in shop-laid laminate doors cause the edgebander to scuff the laminate. What's the fix? May 10, 2005
Mixing Solid Surface Brands If you combine sinks and countertops from different makers, will warranties (and adhesives) hold? April 14, 2005
Applying Laminate with an Edgebander Yes, you can apply high-pressure laminate to panel edges using an edgebander. Here are tips on trimming and adhesives. February 16, 2012
Flexible Countertop Templating Material With plastic material you can roll up after the template is built, transporting the template is easier. September 30, 2009
Countertop delamination After five years, why is an HPL countertop delaminating? October 2, 2001
Edgeband failure Searching for causes of edgeband failure. September 26, 2000
Spray Adhesives for Plastic Laminate Adhesives labeled for use with "plastic" may actually not perform will with plastic laminate counter materials, which have a paper backing. February 14, 2010
Repairing A Laminate Seam Placed to close to the kitchen sink, a laminate countertop seam is lifting. Here are quick tips on prevention and repair. December 14, 2005
Laminating HPL onto Cylinders It's hard to apply sufficient pressure to a cylinder for good bonding of contact cement, but here are a few tips. August 23, 2006
Finger Pull Detail for Laminate Doors Painting the cove detail to match the laminate is more reliable than fitting laminate to the profile. July 12, 2012
Trimming T Moulding Tips for quickly and easily trimming T molding for laminated countertops. August 7, 2006
Laminate over Melamine Quick, simple advice on adhering plastic laminate to melamine as a retrofit. March 25, 2010
Solid Surface CounterTop Watch as a CNC router cuts out and profiles solid surface countertops. July 12, 2007
Balanced Laminating Over Melamine Here's a detailed discussion about whether it's okay to apply laminate over just one face of a melamine door, and about various other ways to achieve the same product. October 12, 2012
Balanced Construction of Plastic Laminate Doors Experience shows that balancing P-lam doors can prevent the occasional case of warping. Here are thoughts on how to lay up balanced P-lam panels. February 12, 2010
Production Gluing of High Density Plastic Laminates This article describes the gluing of high density plastic laminates (i.e. Formica, Debar, Nevamar, Micarta, Pionite and the like) to plywood, lumber core, and particleboard core panels - 1998
Biscuit joining vs. tie-bolts Is it possible to join post-form tops and shop-built substrate with biscuits? June 24, 2001
Polishing Granite This thread covers a helpful topic: polishing scratches out of granite tops. June 18, 2010
PVA Glue for P-lam? PVA glue is not as fast as contact cement for applying plastic laminate, but it gives good results (if you choose the right glue). February 14, 2010
Priming for P-lam Edgebanding When you apply plastic laminate as edgebanding, using a primer helps a lot with strong adhesion in service. February 14, 2010
Solid Surface as a Shelf Nosing An architect's query sets off a spirited discussion of using solid surface material for shelf nosings. Appropriate adhesives, durability, and movement rates are issues (and yes, it has been done before). June 10, 2006
Glue Injection Techniques When laminate or veneer is lifting, you can make a slit, inject adhesive, and clamp for a clean repair. Here are some detailed tips on getting the glue where it needs to go. February 20, 2008
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