Need some help in the kitchen

[Jerry Bruette]

What's the best way to cut a laminate counter top to length if I don't have a giant RAS?

Question 2...how would I layout and make the cutout for a sink if I don't have a pattern for the sink?

[Todd Burch]

Upside down with a circular saw should be fine. A new blade would help. Finish off the edge with a hand file (or the appropriate router bit if you have one)

Can you google for the sink to find a template? Otherwise, you can use a piece of scrap plywood or MDF to do a practice cut.

Todd

[Matt Day]

To add to what Todd said, id use a straight edge to guide the circular saw so it's not a free hand cut.

[Jerry Bruette]

I assume a fine toothed blade would be in order?

[Jamie Buxton]

Yeah, upside down with a straightedge and a circular saw. Cut from the front to the back. If the counter already has a backsplash attached, the circular saw blade won't cut all the way through it. Support the offcut so it doesn't fall away and break the part of the backsplash you want to keep. Use a hand saw to complete the cut. I recommend a pull saw. It cuts a kerf narrower than the skilsaw, so keep it close to the keeper side of the skilsaw kerf, not the offcut.

[Joe O'Connor]

To lay out the sink opening without a template you can lay the sink upside down on the counter and trace around it, then make your cut line layout an equal distance inside your first lines. It will depend on the sink as to how much material you want to leave around it.

[Wayne Jolly]

For straight cuts I just used my 4" die grinder with a cutoff wheel. Stunk a little, but it worked well. No way to use an edge guide though. OK, maybe I shouldn't say "no way", but no easy and fast way. I haven't used a circular saw for cutting laminate, but it seemed like it would have been difficult to cut 1" wide strips that I needed to apply to the edges of some 3/4" plywood. I cut everything oversized anyway, and then just used a flush trim bit in a router to clean it all up.

Wayne

[Dave Zellers]

What's the best way to cut a laminate counter top to length if I don't have a giant RAS?

Question 2...how would I layout and make the cutout for a sink if I don't have a pattern for the sink?
If you are talking about scribing the counter to the end wall, the best tool would be a quality hand jig saw (Bosch) with a down cutting blade. Use painters tape so you don't scratch the formica.

For the sink, as said before, position the sink upside down, trace the permitter onto the counter (again, tape) and draw a parallel line inside it by the correct amount.

[Rich Engelhardt]

To add to what Todd said, id use a straight edge to guide the circular saw so it's not a free hand cut.+1 - Also - if the countertop has a built in splash guard, you have to take that into account w/your guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5XitQqPOtY

This video shows it pretty well.

[Vince Shriver]

Take a look:

www.cabinetmakerwarehouse.com/
(http://www.cabinetmakerwarehouse.com/how-to-videos)