Worktop mitre - left to right???

[voicey]

Hi,

I'm about to fit my new kitchen and am thinking about hiring a mitre jig and router to get a nice finish on the worktop joins (2 of 90 deg). I've been doing a bit of research and know it will be a difficult job and I'll only get one chance at it.

I'm getting help from my Dad (we are both mechanical engineers) so I reckon we'll be OK measuring it up and placing the jig in the correct place shouldn't trouble us too much.

What is playing on my mind is the actual cutting. I've read that one should cut left to right but what does this actually mean? I know I should cut a little deeper on each pass but should I cut from underneath or directly onto the laminate top? Do I cut into the bullnose edge or out from it.

Any tips gratefully received!

PS: I've also bought the aluminium strips should I chicken out!

 

[chappers]

cut directly into the laminate top and always cut into the bullnose

 

[voicey]

Many thanks - much appreciated. Any idea what the "left to right" actually means? It got me confused!

 

[gord55]

I can only think it means that the rotating cutter must 'bite' into the good edge, not run along it like a wheel... which means moving it in the correct direction. "Left to right" is confusing, as most people chop & change to suit the situation. It shouldn't matter of course, because the cutter can't go astray when it's running in parallel guides (as it could if it ran along a single straightedge or fence). But as chappers said, cut from the top & always from the bullnose...

...which may present a problem. It seems to me that if the cutter is going in the wrong direction as you go into the bullnose, then you risk splitting out the laminate as the cutter enters. But I admit that although I've done a lot of routering over the years, I've never joined a worktop like this

Any kitchen fitters out there?

 

[olly_k]

Hi when I did my worktop this also confused me, until I realised like gord55 said, the router must 'cut' into the edge of the worktop - try to think what would happen to the laminate if the cutting edge of the router spun the other way, it would rip the laminate off the front edge!
Another tip, start with the left worktop and move round kitchen clockwise. When doing the 'male' cuts turn the worktop upside down, otherwise the router blade will be going the wrong way into the cut as in above and rip the laminate front edge off again!
Oh, and I think the correct way is to complete the cut in one pass only - at least that is the way I did it!

Have fun and take your time doing it - have to say the satisfaction is worth all the stress of potentially messing up that £50 worktop

PS One other important point if no instructions - it looks like the jig has two (or four) different cutting patterns - this isn't the case as I almost found out! Just think about how the collet follows the guide and u should see what I mean...

 

[voicey]

Thanks guys for all the advice. The laminate work top is arriving next week so will keep you posted with the results.

 

[Ukwoody]

Olly, sorry to correct you, but you should only cut in about 12mm steps at a time. each mitre cut should take about three passes. It puts far too much strain on the cutter edges otherwise. (Otherwise I agree with the rest).

As regards which surface to cut from, it can depend on the jig and which hand or mitre you are doing. I currently use a Unika jig and sometimes the instructions are to cut from the bottom side.

Dont also forget, if you use a circular saw to cut the length with you must ALWAYS cut from the underside and even put some masking tape along the cut line if you want. You also always start from the front bullnose edge as I think someone has already said - both for saw and router.

One final tip. You have to clamp your jig onto the worktop. If you use G cramps (which actually are the best ones for this), do use a wood packer on the face side, otherwise you'll end up with the mark of the clamp on it.


As regards the left to right business, you always start the cut on the lefthandside and work towards your right - hence why sometime you have to have the top upside down.

This link doesn't seem to work tonight, but I'll include it anyway, It's a really good site that explaines EXACTLY how to fit your kitchen. http://www.kitchenfix.com

Regards, Woody

 

[gord55]

Thanks woody - that's a big help to me too

 

[olly_k]

Olly, sorry to correct you, but you should only cut in about 12mm steps at a time. each mitre cut should take about three passes. It puts far too much strain on the cutter edges otherwise. (Otherwise I agree with the rest).
Regards, Woody

I did wander what all the smoke was and the motor didn't half make some stragnge sounds
You would probably laugh your socks off if I told you that it took me ages to work out how to cut a 38mm top with a standard length bit - In the end a trip to B&Q put me right!

 

[Ukwoody]

Olly, like everything mate, it's only when you've done it the hard way, do you find out the easier and more correct way of doing it

Although I'm a chippy with 20 years under my belt, I still get it wrong and still ask questions, but thats the fun of doing it!
Woody

 

[voicey]

Guys - I can't thank you enough for the advice. It has certainly given me a confidence boost to actually try it. I'll take some pics of the finished job. Cheers!

 

[Cackhanded]

Its a brave man that attempts his first try on a peice of virgin and expensive worktop. Local DIY stores often have offcuts for sale at silly prices, near thier sawtable usually. Get one of these and have a practice run first.
Regarding left to right etc. Surely it doesnt matter,the bit is rotating,one side biting in the other coming out. Swap direction and the whole thing is reversed.
Can I also suggest that when you come to marry the peices up you do a dry run first,clamp the edges together and ensure you have a flush fit etc.

eddie

 

[petewood]

Regarding left to right etc. Surely it doesnt matter,the bit is rotating,one side biting in the other coming out.

Actually it can make quite a difference depending on the material. You should work left to right so the movement along the workpiece is opposite to the rotation of the cutter. It gives a better cut and it's easier to control the router.

 

[gcol]

It's called "climb milling".
Here's a link explaining the two. This is for metal on a milling machine but the same principle applies. The info in the link seems to advocate climb milling but whenever I've done it it makes the tool judder and skip forwards on the workpiece and makes for a bad finish.
http://www.hanita.com/hanita_protected/tec00006.htm
Cheers,
Gcol

 

[islimx]

Hi there. My first post.

When fitting kitchen worktops, it is very rare these days to either butt them together and cover the join with a cover-strip or to join corners at 90-degree angles. If you go this page www.trendmachinery.co.uk/combijigs/ it shows you the kinds of joints you can/should make with a worktop jig.

A router is a versatile tool, but can be extremely dangerous if you don't know how to handle one. The thing about feeding left-to-right is absolutely crucial unless you're an old hand at routing. Even people with twenty+ years experience tend to avoid it. A router spins at 20000rpm: now imagine if the bit was replaced by a small wheel which is turning in a clockwise direction at 22000rpm. Run this wheel along an edge from right-to-left and it is likely to move faster than you would expect and either drag you along if you hold on to the router or fly-off and cause injury if you let go.

Believe me, I learnt this the hard way. Make sure you know what you're doing. Go to this page: www.trendmachinery.co.uk/libfiles/library.html and download the "getstart.pdf" before you do anything else.

BTW, I have no connections with Trend Machinery other than the fact that I use their routers/cutters.