Hi All, I am looking for some advice on the best order and method for cutting my new kitchen worktop. I have a wall on the left which the worktop goes against and then will need to do a joint for the join with the other worktop along the other wall. I have cut the worktop down to approx 70mm longer than need be and wondering which cut I should do first. The straight one against the wall (the first few mm of worktop does not have any laminate on it) or the corner joint with router and jig and then trim down to exact size on the straight cut? Thanks, Kevin
Don't assume that the corner of the building is exactly at 90 degrees. Or indeed any other plane is perpendicular. The previous fitting may have included some compensation for an out of true siting. As I only do worktops occasionally, I use some strips of hardboard cut to 600 width and experiment a bit with the overall layout. These can be cut with the router and jig to see if it is all going to fit nicely. Worth doing if you are likely to mess up rare exotic solid wood worktops. With a mason mitre, one side will come out easily from the join, depending on your layout, whether you have chosen it to be male or female. The other side will have to be lifted out of the join and it could damage both cuts of the laminate. So any trimming or adjusting needs to be more with the easily moved one. Also when using the jig, you will always need a good bit of worktop for the jig to rest on; some of which you cut off to create your joining edge. Which seems ok, except you won't be able to trim any slight changes thereafter, all that easily, as you have removed some of what the jig needs to rest on. So even the 70mm you have left might not take the jig so well or have enough to clamp onto. You will see, as you go. But if you have got the angling about right and left enough waggle room to get the two sections together it will come out good enough, hopefully spot on.
Thanks for the reply dwlondon. I was aiming to do a butt joint and I guess was wondering if should do that joint first as close to the edge as possible because as you say it is more difficult to trim those with little space for the jig compared to scribing the wall and using jigsaw for the part against the left wall. Maybe it is down to personal preference as to what to do first?
Always cut female joint first if doing a masons mitre. You may need to scribe the male joint if corner out.
Thanks CGN. Good advice. I have already cut worktops roughly to get them in the room so I will do the female joint in each corner first then the male ones, scribing the male joint to the female to allow for walls being out. All along there is going to be 1 or 2 rows of tiles so I should not need to scribe along the back and side walls since scribing the joint should make it a tight fit all round?
Sounds good. It is generally advantageous to have a bit of jiggle around between the top and the wall anyway, especially if you have a length 'wall to wall'! Get an off cut of top to put at opposite end to your joint to keep the top level when you scribe. If you have the situation where your top comes up against a larder cupboard etc, then I generally get that to fit snug first before scribing the male joint if that makes sense? It does give you only one bite of the apple, but you have to commit at some point. I also only tend to use one router bit per pair of joints. I keep an old one for the bolt slots underneath to keep the new one as fresh as poss. Just take you time and go steady with the plunge depth, about 5/6 mm per pass is plenty. Do one more full pass after you've gone through just to clean up the edge further. Good luck.
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