Contributor
Patty ,one thing that will help is to make , or buy , a large router base with a knob on an elongated base . Then you can clear your
mind of fear , knowing you will not botch your project, or allow the router to topple over. Think “ Ping Pong “ paddle with router on big
part, and a knob on handle part. SO much easier than wrestling the heavy concoction with no help.
Contributor
+1 with John. Worked a short while in a commercial shop with lots of laminate work. They used a crayon kind of lube that was rubbed on the edge.
[OP]
Contributor
Yes Mel... I've pretty much decided on that...even moving from the standard OEM base to the larger diameter one was a great improvement in control.Originally Posted by Mel Fulks
No more router "Tilt-a-whirl" mistakes
Last edited by Patty Hann; 03-10-2023 at 10:12 PM.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
A small laminate trim router is light and handy and needs no special base. My favorite is an old Rockwell.
"Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing."
Contributor
It's not as hard as it sounds. Contact cement won't stick to whatever you use to keep the pieces separated. You just get one chance to get it in place. The main thing is to not put them together until the contact cement is ready. Not when any will come off on anything.
[OP]
Contributor
Thank you Tom...Yes, I was reading about the contact cement and did it correctly for the small test piece.
Ready (for joining) is when "dry"...but the mfr (3M etc) defines dry as something along the lines of lay the backs of your fingers on the cement and it shouldn't feel sticky.
But then you also have a limited "work window"...rolling it on, waiting for it to get "not tacky" dry, actually joining it to the substrate..all within (IIRC) something like 30 minutes .
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
Doesn't have to do with trimming, but you really need one of these to press the laminate to the substrate. https://www.lowes.com/pd/7-5-in-Plas...Frame/50301943
BillL
Contributor
Contact cement is the standard, widely used stuff. They used to rate its hold as 5 to 7 years, and that’s often too long for those who
are “trendy”. For anyone who does not ever want to change to re-do , plastic resin glue is the ‘right stuff’.
Contributor
I've never used anything but solvent based contact cement, and never had any come loose. Some of the houses I built in the 1970's still have the same Formica countertops in use. Also, so traction carpet on the sides of catamarans done in the '80's still holding, and that's with the boats sitting outside since then.
Contributor
Tom, that’s good info. Could be that there was ,or is a government thing about where the stuff could be used, like office space with
people in it. And I’ve seen some sprayed on glue not stuck down in time, and lots of call-backs done by guys who were “highly rated”,
but took lots of ‘smoke breaks’.
Contributor
I tried the water based contact cement whenever it was that they first came out with it, but didn't like it, and never again used anything but solvent based. That's been so long ago that I forget the details.
When I did the last pieces in the dog room, for tall baseboards, I used a short block of typical Spruce 2x4 for pressing it together with one of the rounded corners of the 2x4, and it worked as good as the J-roller that I couldn't find.
Contributor
The water based stuff really is terrible. It just doesn't adhere as well. It takes like 3 coats to get it to the right consistency on the material and I can't imagine it having the longevity of solvent base cement. The Lanco red label variety works best imho, the dap is ok and more readily available, just don't buy the green label version.
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