Cutting a straight line with a router

[AdamW]

Because of some peculiarities in the design of my new kitchen (or rather the brain of the kitchen designer!), I need to cut 3cm off the depth of one of the worktops along it's whole length (i.e. instead of being 60cm deep, it will be 57cm deep)

The way I was planning to cut it was to clamp a spirit level to the top of the worktop, parallel to the line I want to cut. Then put a straight bit in my 1/2" router and cut the worktop using the spirit level to guide the router.

Is this the right way to do it? Do I cut the whole thickness of the worktop in one go, or do I make several passes, cutting a few mm at a time?

Alternatively, if anyone wants a job installing two worktops in an L-shape, with one mitre and two cut-outs, in the North Hertfordshire area, in the next week, let me know! (I'm serious!)

 

[kevplumb]

ahhh dont you just love computers and twits with bits of paper

then you hit the real world

might be easier to cut the plaster

 

[Hitachimad]

Could you not just use a saw??

 

[big-all]

cutting worktops with routers =12mm router minimum and extended cutters [worktop cutters]
why not screw a batton underneath full length and use a circular saw

areyou shure of the measurements why is it an inch and a quarter short
dont forget you may have to scribe to the wall!!!

 

[AdamW]

If you all sit down, I'll tell you a story about Adam and the need to cut 3cm off his worktops...

Once upon a time, there was a DIYer called Adam. Adam decided that it would be a lark to install a new kitchen. So, he saved up all his pennies, and spent a week leaving work a little bit earlier to hop and skip around all the kitchen showrooms and look at all the lovely kitchens.

He measured his kitchen to within a measuring error of a couple of mm, which as one with a background in measuring stuff down to a nanometre scale, he concluded was sufficient to install a kitchen. Adam skipped down to MFI and spoke to a "consultant", called "Bubba". Bubba designed a really nice kitchen. He added a sink, and a hob, and an extractor, and doors and worktops. He even managed to design one that fitted almost exactly into the dimensions of Adam's kitchen. "What a clever chap that Bubba is!" Adam thought as he signed off the big chunk of money from his switch card.

However, Bubba isn't clever. Bubba didn't take into account the corner fillets he designed into the kitchen. Adam didn't check Bubba's credentials, or he would have seen Bubba had a Master's Degree in Stupidity, with a dual honours in Shidferbrains from the University of Dumb. So, when Adam had assembled the carcasses, at the tail end of MFI's stupidly short 14-day period, because Adam has to go to work to save money to buy kitchens off UoD alumni and doesn't have all day to sit around building kitchens, he found the kitchen was exactly 3cm too long to fit in the kitchen. This made Adam sad.

Adam rang up MFI, but a big fat ugly evil woman called Margaret was having her entire lifetime of menstruation concentrated into one afternoon so she just shouted at Adam. "Aha" thought Adam as he wiped the stinking fetid menses off the earpiece of his telephone. "There is only one cabinet on that end of the kitchen, I can simply cut 3cm off the back of the carcass! Sure, it will be slightly narrower than the other cabinets, but at least I won't have to spend a fortune on a jackhammer to pound the carcasses up Bubba and Margaret's poo-pipes!"

So, he cut 3cm off the depth of the cabinet, the kitchen fitted, and everybody lived happily ever after.

THAT is why I need to cut 3cm off the back of the cabinets, I'm not being daft I didn't realise that the founders of MFI couldn't spell, and thought those were the initials for "Bunch o' Bleedin' A-holes", or I would have taken my business to one where the staff knew the product they were selling. But I digress.

I have at my disposal:

Handsaw: thought it might split the laminate, and wouldn't give quite as neat an edge as other methods.
Circular saw: TCT blade looks a bit vicious, never used it before, bought it thinking "Wow, that looks COOL!"
Jigsaw: tends to wander too much
Router: thought this would offer best combination of straight line and neat edge.

Does the above look reasonable? I know the cut will be hidden by tiles, but hey, I know it's there I have an electric plane so could cut with handsaw and plane, but I thought that will make just as much mess as a router, plus I want to try my router out.

The walls are flat to within a millimetre or two (although unfortunately the builders who knocked this place up thought a right-angle = 92 degrees ), so no scribing required.

Apologies for the sarcasm, just I can't imagine people cutting 3cm off worktops just for the hell of it

 

[big-all]

l o l sarcasm whats that

trouble with routering is youll need a new cutter per length of worktop
the usual practice if you need a crisp clean accurate line is cut to within 2mm of the line with a jigsaw circular saw hand saw what ever just make shure the blade is sharp and wont cause excessive chipping
then router the last 2mm in one pass
this save your cutters and is a lot quicker

 

[Diyisfun]

Adam
Nice story & well told....When I cut my worktop in to narrow sections (part of the design in a particular area), I used a circular saw with a straight edge clamped on as a guide. As easy as cutting butter with a hot knife...The last thing I would be doing is hacking the plaster off.

 

[AdamW]

Ah, thanks guys.

Didn't think about blade wear on the router, good point!

So, what I'll do is use my circular saw to cut down to a couple of mm from the final depth, using a straight edge to guide (I'll check the blade on it, see if it is suitable for laminate but I'll check with an offcut first).

Then use the router to shave off the last bit (I have heard them called router planes before, this would make more sense now!)

I'm in two minds as to whether or not I should try a mitre. Does the jig make them easy or are they still difficult to do for a novice routerer?

 

[petewood]

What are you messing about with a router for, I would use big-alls method of clamping a batten on underneath and using the circ. saw; much quicker than anything else. (If you want to play with the router, get an offcut of worktop or similar, write your name on with a marker and then try to carve it out accurately with the router.)

 

[petewood]

Sorry, you beat me to that last reply. Using the jig for the mitres isn't that hard if you're carefull and you don't have a hangover! Think of the sense of achievement when it fits perfectly!

 

[AdamW]

Should I be cutting from the top of the worksurface or from underneath? Should I have a batten clamped to the laminated surface too, or is the risk of chipping minimal?

Of course I'll practice with the offcut, but there is always the chance of Beginner's Luck meaning it comes out fine with the offcut, but not when I try it for real!

I'll give the mitre some more thought. I should have sufficient excess worktop that I can try the mitre, and if it goes wrong I could use a fillet instead.

 

[big-all]

with a circular saw you cut from underneath have minimum blade protruding about a couple of mm if its sticks out to far the teeth will push the surface off[chip] with minnimum blade sticking through its a forward motion rather than down and forward motion
cut from from the finnished edge towards the unfinnished edge or in your case whichever direction gives the baseplate most support

you may have to use a wide ish batton as the motor may foul the clamp

and another tip to support the centre of the batton take a piece of wood from the back edge of the batton/ strait edge to the opposite edge of the worktop and clamp
make sure you protect the worktop from the clamps [even plastic jaws can mark worktops ]

if your using a handsaw you cut from the top as they cut on the down stroke

 

[Allenm]

Bear in mind that when using the mitre jig on offcuts you are using the nice sharp router bit for waste and leaving yourself with a bluntish bit for the real cuts.

It is worth have a few bits to hand, and don't use the same bits to cut the bolt slots or make sure you cut the visible joints first, whilst the bit is still nice and sharp. It only take a bit of excess resin in the worktop to blunt a router bit.

Cheers
Merv

 

[AdamW]

Some more great tips, thanks guys!

I'll buy a few identical router bits, just in case the one I already have in my set is slightly different in some way to the new ones.

 

[petewood]

Adam you can screw the batten to the underside of the worktop for extra security and then the clamps dont get in the way. If you do this I would put a dab of glue in the screwholes after you remove the batten.