Help with extended table laminate top woes

[Don Morris]

I was finishing routing the 3/16" deep recess to accommodate the "Rout-R-Lift" in my NEW extended table from Grizzly for my NEW 1023SL. I was going to improve the track placement location from my old router table and was using the Jessem template with some double stick tape. When I lifted the template about a 3"sq. piece of the laminate top came with the tape. It's a real thin laminate! It will be about where I position the fence most of the time, so after I stopped crying (with four letter words) I figured I would proceed and get some advice on how to fill the thin void nicely. I do have the piece I cut out for the "Rout-R-Lift" which has some of the same laminate on it but I figure that would be really tough to patch that in. Some sort of epoxy and sanding it smooth to the rest of the laminate or something like that is what comes to mind, but I'm not thinking too clear right now. Help/suggestions please.

Thanks guys.

[Norman Hitt]

Have you checked to see if the rest of the laminate is stuck properly? If double stick tape pulled it loose, there may be a delaminate problem with the whole top, in which case I would contact Grizz.

On the other hand, if the rest seems well laminated, you can replace the piece by cleaning the old cement off both the laminate, and the base material and using a good laminate cement to replace it, but it will always show. If it were mine, and I had to patch it, I would do so, and then scuff sand the existing laminate, and cover the whole top with a new piece of laminate over the old one. You would have to elongate the mounting holes to lower it down level with the saw top after you are done, but you would have a good surface you wouldn't have to worry about again.

Good Luck

[tod evans]

don, if it was me i`d make a new table out of known materials, you`re not talking any major expense or time and in the end you`ll know what you have.....02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

Sure you don't have melamine on the top instead of lamanite?
Lamanite usually doesn't break that easy, in so small a spot.

[Don Morris]

Steve,

I just used laminate as a generic term. I'm not real versed on laminates, although I laminated my old router table top with formica. This stuff is thinner than the formica. I guess it's probably Melamine? As far as re-doing the entire surface...I guess I could do that...seems like a lot of effort for just a small area if there was a nice fix for such a situation. Guess there isn't so I'll try to rout out the area with a jig and match it with a section from the piece I cut out for the "Rout-R-Lift" and patch it in. There will only be a small line. If it looks "OK" I'll keep it, if not I'll re-do the entire surface. I can change the drop down distance of the lift by using the same material on the ledge so that won't be a problem. Just the time to do all this.

Question: is using a little two-sided tape on the template a legitimate technique on the Melamine to hold the template in place while I rout the ledge? If it is, then the Melamine shouldn't have come off so easily and I'm thinking of calling Grizzly and complaining. If I was doing a dummy thing to do then it's my fault.

Your opinion please.

Thanks:)

Don M

[Steve Clardy]

Apparently the melamine wasn't glued down good. Double tape normally shouldn't have taken it off.
So---what to do huh?
Give griz a call and see what they will do.
If they won't budge, I would rough sand the melamine off and use laminate.
Wish you were closer, I have numerous scraps of laminate that you could have. About time to clean them out and take to the burn pit. But I hate to throw anything like this away.