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
Sofa-bed continued:
I've laminated the outside edge of the sofa-bed's right End Piece with Formica. Now to cover it's left side. Since this is the right End Piece the left side faces the interior of the sofa-bed.
Hand sand the surface with 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a wood block. Remove the sawdust and wipe off the surface to be sure it's dust free. Apply the contact cement. Since the plywood is porous and soaks up the contact cement I apply the first coat to the End Piece then when done move to the Formica and apply a layer. By then the first layer on the End Piece is dry so apply a second layer to the End Piece.
Wait until contact cement on the End Piece and the Formica has dried and is tacky. Place these thin strips of plywood on the tacky surface of the End Piece. All the on-line laminating instructions have you using wooden dowel rods but scrap plywood works just fine. Use enough scrap pieces so when the laminate is placed on top the two glued surfaces won't touch.
Flip the laminate so the glued side is down and place it on the scrap plywood pieces above the End Piece. DON'T LET THE TWO GLUED SURFACES TOUCH!
With the laminate resting on the scrap wood move it around till it's positioned how you want it. Carefully remove the center most wood scrap and press down on the laminate till it makes contact with the End Piece. Hope you had everything lined up because it is now officially too late. Moving from the center out remove the remain wood scraps but Don't press down on the laminate.
Take your J-Roller and start rolling from the center outward. I used something like a ever expanding spiral pattern of concentric circles for the first rolling. If there are any air bubble under the laminate this should force them out. Then roll it some more trying to cover the entire surface at least once. Pay extra attention to the areas close to the edge. If the laminate ever comes loose it will probably be at the edge.
Now to trim the edge of the new laminate. This will be a different than the first trim I did. When I trimmed the first edge piece the surface that the pilot bearing of the router bit rolled against was bare plywood that was going to be covered later. If I made any mistakes they would later be hidden. Now the pilot bearing will be rolling against a piece of laminate I had previously applied. Not much room for error, as I was about to find out.
The laminate instructions I read referred to "burn" and how to prevent it. One way was to spread liquid hand soap on the laminate surface the pilot bearing would contact. So that's just what I did.
Here's the view from underneath after running the trimming bit for a short ways. Everything looks OK. But this was on the straight part of the trim.
Problem is when I got to the curved part of the End Piece I slowed down the forward movement of the hand router. I was attempting to be extra careful while cutting around the curve. BAD MOVE!
I ended up ruining the edge piece I had so carefully applied the day before. Since the contact cement was still fairly new I was able, with the help of a paint scrapper, to remove the damaged edge piece. Here it is. Bummer. Forget about using the liquid hand soap.
When you read about laminate "burn" now you know what it looks like.
While rethinking my strategy for the End Piece I went ahead and laminated the sofa-bed's Kick Board. It's a simple rectangle and no laminated edges to burn so it was easier.
While trimming the Kick Board laminate I learned a few things. I could move the router faster while making a trim. I didn't have to go as slow as I had been moving. Less chance for burn.
After a long cut check the pilot bearing on the router bit. It can become gummed up with glue. Also check the cutting edges.
After cleaning the bit, oil the bearing.
Now had less trouble trimming the Kick Board.
After trimming the edge there will sometimes be some excess glue left over.
You'll need some mineral spirits (paint thinner) and elbow grease to remove it. The mineral spirits doesn't dissolve the glue but makes it easier to rub off the underlying surface. Rub being the operative word.
continued -
I've laminated the outside edge of the sofa-bed's right End Piece with Formica. Now to cover it's left side. Since this is the right End Piece the left side faces the interior of the sofa-bed.
Hand sand the surface with 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a wood block. Remove the sawdust and wipe off the surface to be sure it's dust free. Apply the contact cement. Since the plywood is porous and soaks up the contact cement I apply the first coat to the End Piece then when done move to the Formica and apply a layer. By then the first layer on the End Piece is dry so apply a second layer to the End Piece.
Wait until contact cement on the End Piece and the Formica has dried and is tacky. Place these thin strips of plywood on the tacky surface of the End Piece. All the on-line laminating instructions have you using wooden dowel rods but scrap plywood works just fine. Use enough scrap pieces so when the laminate is placed on top the two glued surfaces won't touch.
Flip the laminate so the glued side is down and place it on the scrap plywood pieces above the End Piece. DON'T LET THE TWO GLUED SURFACES TOUCH!
With the laminate resting on the scrap wood move it around till it's positioned how you want it. Carefully remove the center most wood scrap and press down on the laminate till it makes contact with the End Piece. Hope you had everything lined up because it is now officially too late. Moving from the center out remove the remain wood scraps but Don't press down on the laminate.
Take your J-Roller and start rolling from the center outward. I used something like a ever expanding spiral pattern of concentric circles for the first rolling. If there are any air bubble under the laminate this should force them out. Then roll it some more trying to cover the entire surface at least once. Pay extra attention to the areas close to the edge. If the laminate ever comes loose it will probably be at the edge.
Now to trim the edge of the new laminate. This will be a different than the first trim I did. When I trimmed the first edge piece the surface that the pilot bearing of the router bit rolled against was bare plywood that was going to be covered later. If I made any mistakes they would later be hidden. Now the pilot bearing will be rolling against a piece of laminate I had previously applied. Not much room for error, as I was about to find out.
The laminate instructions I read referred to "burn" and how to prevent it. One way was to spread liquid hand soap on the laminate surface the pilot bearing would contact. So that's just what I did.
Here's the view from underneath after running the trimming bit for a short ways. Everything looks OK. But this was on the straight part of the trim.
Problem is when I got to the curved part of the End Piece I slowed down the forward movement of the hand router. I was attempting to be extra careful while cutting around the curve. BAD MOVE!
I ended up ruining the edge piece I had so carefully applied the day before. Since the contact cement was still fairly new I was able, with the help of a paint scrapper, to remove the damaged edge piece. Here it is. Bummer. Forget about using the liquid hand soap.
When you read about laminate "burn" now you know what it looks like.
While rethinking my strategy for the End Piece I went ahead and laminated the sofa-bed's Kick Board. It's a simple rectangle and no laminated edges to burn so it was easier.
While trimming the Kick Board laminate I learned a few things. I could move the router faster while making a trim. I didn't have to go as slow as I had been moving. Less chance for burn.
After a long cut check the pilot bearing on the router bit. It can become gummed up with glue. Also check the cutting edges.
After cleaning the bit, oil the bearing.
Now had less trouble trimming the Kick Board.
After trimming the edge there will sometimes be some excess glue left over.
You'll need some mineral spirits (paint thinner) and elbow grease to remove it. The mineral spirits doesn't dissolve the glue but makes it easier to rub off the underlying surface. Rub being the operative word.
continued -
