Zenith solid laminate worktop

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by Doall, Nov 30, 2016.

  1. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Fitting a kitchen and fitting zenith solid laminate work tops. First time I've fitted these worktops understand about the biscuit joins etc but practised on a off cut today putting a curve on it and what a nightmare. Do you use the same router cutter as a normal work top any pointers would be greatly appreciated
    Ps curves are fit the island
     
  2. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Doall likes this.
  3. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Cheers John that came with the worktops but nothing said about routing it got to do a under mount sink which came with a jig so they can be routed as such just don't feel right using a normal worktop router piece if that makes sense
     
  4. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    I no when you do route it it's in 4mm at a time
     
  5. Paulie1412

    Paulie1412 Active Member

    I used to use a lot of various brands of solid surface material in the workshop, when it come to routing them I used "special router cutters" which had nylon bearings as opposed to metal bearings but in reality I found that any good quality,sharp cutter worked well, the secret was to remove the material in small amounts
     
  6. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    So the standard 12.7 twin flute cutter is no use on them paulie? Regards david
     
  7. Paulie1412

    Paulie1412 Active Member

    A good quality 12.7mm cutter is fine to use just take it slow and cut little bit at a time, I always found it best when cutting to size to cut as close as possible to the finished size with skil saw or jigsaw then just skim the final 2-3mm with the router, so if I was to do a curve I'd template it on a piece of mdf, draw a faint line around template, cut worst off with a jigsaw then use a top following wheel router bit to skim the final couple of mm off. But it always pays with this sort of material to do a test piece if you have any spare
    With practice you can do all sorts with solid surface materials, we used to heat it in a veneer press then make curved cabinet doors, work tops and fish tanks out of it
     
    Doall likes this.
  8. metrokitchens

    metrokitchens Screwfix Select

    Wow - I am fitting these worktops for the first time today / tomorrow. I do like the textured finish for a laminate top - very high quality. They do seem very tough and I had a go at scratching an offcut and they seem hardwearing also.

    The design has an inset sink and inset hob so no difficult stuff. One corner joint and one straight end. I have cut a mason mitre but reckon a but joint would have been fine. These tops are so thin that biscuits must be used - and I am cutting them quite loose and using lots of glue so as not to split the top when inserting the biscuits. Have not done the join up yet so fingers crossed. The supplied 2-pac glue is not colour matched - do not know why.

    Being only 12mm thick has been a nuisance. The inset sink has a 16mm lip all the way round where the clips usually go. I have had to cut a groove into the units below the top to allow the sink to sit down enough. Also the gas hob is 50mm thick so the top drawer below the hob will be lost (or the client will get me to re position all the runners in the drawer pack and adjust the frontal clips).

    Personally I find the edge finish a bit pants. It is patterned and textured on both faces but there are no finished edges. It is simply left with the internal black core exposed. Very modern (or very carp).

    Have up stands and no information on the heat resistance of the product to go behind the hob. Will perform a 'gas burner test' at lunch time :)

    I used a metal jigsaw blade that cut slowly but nice finish. Router was slow going also but a good finish. Feckin top bloody killed my Festool track saw though. No idea what blade to use - an original fine tooth one was quickly burning up and smoking the place out. Perhaps a rip down blade and finish off with the router would have been less ... smoky ;-)
     
    Doall likes this.
  9. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Cheers paulie I've the jig to do the curves on the island just tried earlier to cut a curve on some scrap and found it a nightmare might because it was a old cutter
    Also do you do a mitre join on corners or just butt up and biscuit it bud out of interest
    Not looking forward to these worktops if I'm
    Being honest I appreciate you taking the time to reply
     
  10. Paulie1412

    Paulie1412 Active Member

    Dunno bout festool but makita do a specific corian blade which is 48 tooth and is very similar to an aluminium cutting blade which has small bevels on the edges of the teeth to stop to much chipping of the surface. although I've always found that as you cut it, it has a habit of pinching so a very carefully placed wedge/packer the same thickness as the blade to take the place of a riving knife sometimes helps
    As for the glue we'd use the recommended colour which sometimes was never that good a colour match or worse case use the clear glue that most of the suppliers seem to have
     
  11. Paulie1412

    Paulie1412 Active Member

    I've always butted the joints with biscuits and used sash cramps to hold while glue sets or wedge the work tops off the walls to pull joints up
    An old or used cutter will be hard work they need to be razor sharp and I always found the cutter was usually only any good for 2-3 joints before binning or sharpening
     
  12. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Me too new blade and it felt like it was a year old. Mine it a under mount sink and a surface mounted hob I've cut breakfast bar to size needs tidying up then curved
     
  13. metrokitchens

    metrokitchens Screwfix Select

    I will be glad when these are out of fashion. Thanks for the tip about packing off the adjacent walls to hold the joint tight whilst the glue cures.

    These tops are much harder than Corian. Similar material to that which is used to make worktop jigs from. I tried giving it a whack with a hammer and not a dent in the surface.
     
  14. Paulie1412

    Paulie1412 Active Member

    I know the stuff you mean, it's been around in one form or another for years toilet cubicles use a similar product called trespa, the worktops jigs were once all made out of baker lite, it's all machined the same unfortunately it does kill cutters and blades in a very short time, I always found titman cutters lastest longest when machining it
     
  15. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Is this material basically high pressure laminate (HPL)? Sounds similar ...
     
  16. metrokitchens

    metrokitchens Screwfix Select

    Yeah. I reckon so. Laminate all the way through.
     
    CGN likes this.
  17. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Cheers metro. Was on a job a couple of months back at a school...had to fit a load of toilets. All the cubicles, sink tops were HPL...Chippies weren't happy :p
     
  18. Doall

    Doall Active Member

    Well managed to cut the the induction hob out on the the island today and router 2 curves which I'm more than happy with also cut one of the worktop she to size just leave the other worktop which has the undermount sink to cut out. Going to butt join with 20mm biscuits the 2 worktop and go from there. Have to admit that these worktop take about 4 times to fit as standard worktop imho
     
  19. metrokitchens

    metrokitchens Screwfix Select

    Will you cut both ends of the butt mitre? The tops I have are a bit rough on the front edge. Not good enough for a join. Could just skim the join area in a couple of mm. Like a very small mitre. I have put off jointing mine also till tomorrow.
     
  20. metrokitchens

    metrokitchens Screwfix Select

    Are you using the 2 pac glue supplied? Wondering how to clean it off afterwards. The top has such a heavy slate texture that any join is going to be obvious.
    On the solid surface type tops I mask either side of the joint, once cured use a sharp blade to scrape of the excess and polish off with abrasives. Can't do that here.
     

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