How to cut holes in laminate

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I want to try make vent cover from piece of laminate matching my floor. Would you please recommend router bits to use and what speed for router.
Material will be COREtec Plus 18" Waterproof Vinyl Tiles. Is anybody has experience with this material?

Thank you, Ed.

[Sam Force]

why a router bit? why not a hole saw? cheap and easy

[Wayne Lomman]

Given that coretec plus is a composite of vinyl, limestone, bamboo and other materials, it is going to be abrasive. You will need a carbide cutter and it may not be up to much after you are done. The exact cutter will depend on the profile you are creating. The appropriate speed is a combination of the specs for the tooling and your experience with a material that is not commonly machined. Cheers

[Wade Lippman]

why a router bit? why not a hole saw? cheap and easy

I am guessing he doesn't want a center hole. I've done it without the drill, but it might not leave a great edge. Or maybe he wants it bigger than a hole saw.

OP, if you told us details as to size and material, you might get a better answer. Unreasonable to expect everyone to google the coretec.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Thank you Wayne. You correct with complexity of this laminate. What I want to do - multiple evenly distributed elongated holes and quality of cut will be important. I aw worry about upper layer of this composition - very hard vinyl and because it is plastic, I think routing will melt it. Same for drilling.
I will take small piece tomorrow and will report result latter.
Ed.

[David Kreuzberg]

If you're after a circle the same size as a common hole saw, maybe cut the circle - at a very slow speed in a drill press - with a 1/4" brad point bit in the hole saw. Then chuck a 1/4" plug cutter in the drill press and cut a plug from a scrap piece of laminate for the 1/4" hole in the circle.

[Wayne Lomman]

Thank you Wayne. You correct with complexity of this laminate. What I want to do - multiple evenly distributed elongated holes and quality of cut will be important. I aw worry about upper layer of this composition - very hard vinyl and because it is plastic, I think routing will melt it. Same for drilling.
I will take small piece tomorrow and will report result latter.
Ed.

Routing will be ok provided you start with a sharp cutter and do each slot confidently in a single pass. Not all plastics just melt with machining. Being a flooring product I would expect it to have reasonable heat resistance. I am more concerned about the limestone content. It will be abrasive - think of plasterboard wall sheeting. Standard high speed steel holesaws, drill bits and plug cutters are going to get a bit knocked around. Use a solid carbide straight cutter and a jig. It will work and look clean and sharp. Cheers

[Rich Engelhardt]

You want to use a diamond hole saw.
First you make a hole in a piece of plywood to use that as a template.
Then you clamp your template to the surface where you want to cut the hole out of.
By using the template as a guide, you eliminate the need for the pilot bit.

Chuck the hole saw in a cordless drill and have at it.
Use plenty of water (why you use the cordless drill) to flush the dust away and cool the hole saw.

I use this method all the time to cut holes in ceramic tile.