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I am looking to enlarge the square hole in the galley counter top for the pots and pans. The one side closest to the sink about an inch and a half, straight cut. Towards the right in the picture.
Any suggestions for making a clean job of cutting this 35 year old formica? I am aware of the great opportunity for chipping and making a mess of this "hole thing". I have a few ideas but I would like to hear from anyone who has done it before.
You can buy jig saw blades at any big box store that has the teeth reversed for cutting formica without chipping it. That might be your best bet. I plan on putting an Engel drop-in refrigerator/freezer unit in the same spot you've referenced. It will keep the unit away from the heat of the engine and uses what is a fairly unusable area (though your larger opening will make it far improved for storage). My biggest issue is the cabinet is large enough but the counter isn't- the top of the freezer is larger than the counter space… That just makes it a challenge!
I would make a template clamp it in place and use a pattern bit in my router. Clamp it in a little from the final position for a test the cut. Square up the corner with a hand file.
K Chiswell wrote:I would make a template clamp it in place and use a pattern bit in my router. Clamp it in a little from the final position for a test the cut. Square up the corner with a hand file.
Exactly what I would do. Get a straight bit with the bearing on top. They are a bit harder to find than the one's with the bearing on the end but well worth having. The down cutting blades leave great potential for disaster. You don't want to be sawing that stuff with any blade if you want to end up with a nice finished edge, Steve.
K Chiswell wrote:I would make a template clamp it in place and use a pattern bit in my router. Clamp it in a little from the final position for a test the cut. Square up the corner with a hand file.
I agree with the suggestion to use a router. I never use a saw on Formica. A laminate bit will give ou a clean beautiful cut.
