Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
Try this all on a small piece of scrap first for some practice
I used to work in a formica shop fabricating modular type furniture and there a few different ways to do it and this is just a little tip to make things go easier for you...
When cutting formica I usually use a large table saw but you could use a small hand held finish router for a cleaner cut but you could easily turn the saw blade around om your skil saw the opposite direction and run a piece of masking tape up the cut line and proceed to cut......
Gluing:
I usually do the sides first then belt sand it down after a trimmer cut ...
Now for the top part........... After belt sanding the plywood real good clean off any particles (or it will show thru the formica)glue both the sides to be joined and wait til it looks dry (about three minutes) put small strip boards on top of the plywood and lay the formica on that and remove the center board first and work out towards edges... ( when you get real good you won't need the strip boards)... when it's on the plywood i use a block of 2x4 at hand size and easily bang it all over to get a good adhesion and pay special attention to the edges..... when that's all done i use my small router with a well lubricated bearing on the end of the blade ( so it doesn't burn the formica)and cut around the circumference and finish off with a hand file going in the proper direction...
This takes a little practice and using a small 12"x12"x3/4" piece of plywood to practice will save you lots of aggravation.
You do really good work and i have been following this thread for a while now
Joe
I used to work in a formica shop fabricating modular type furniture and there a few different ways to do it and this is just a little tip to make things go easier for you...
When cutting formica I usually use a large table saw but you could use a small hand held finish router for a cleaner cut but you could easily turn the saw blade around om your skil saw the opposite direction and run a piece of masking tape up the cut line and proceed to cut......
Gluing:
I usually do the sides first then belt sand it down after a trimmer cut ...
Now for the top part........... After belt sanding the plywood real good clean off any particles (or it will show thru the formica)glue both the sides to be joined and wait til it looks dry (about three minutes) put small strip boards on top of the plywood and lay the formica on that and remove the center board first and work out towards edges... ( when you get real good you won't need the strip boards)... when it's on the plywood i use a block of 2x4 at hand size and easily bang it all over to get a good adhesion and pay special attention to the edges..... when that's all done i use my small router with a well lubricated bearing on the end of the blade ( so it doesn't burn the formica)and cut around the circumference and finish off with a hand file going in the proper direction...
This takes a little practice and using a small 12"x12"x3/4" piece of plywood to practice will save you lots of aggravation.
You do really good work and i have been following this thread for a while now
Joe
