Does anybody know how to get a really nice finish when cutting furniture board? I recently had a kitchen fitted and the installer had a circular saw with a 'guide' that he placed on the wood and the saw ran along it - it was brilliant but he said it cost about £1,000 which is just a little more than I wanted to pay lol. I have a circular saw, any tips would be much appreciated. FCF.
What's furniture board?.......a length of wood with 2 clamps works as a guide. If you want a good finish have a close look at saw blades. Different blades for different types of board. Generally the more teeth the finer the cut and the more they cost. If it's laminate or a finished board of some sort you may need a laminate cutting blade. http://www.screwfix.com/p/cmt-laminate-chipboard-saw-blade-108-tooth-micrograin-tc-10-350-x-30mm/85739
About a £1000 for a plunge saw, that must be gold plated, more like £500 tops. In all seriousness you can now buy a DIY version of that track saw for £160. thats saw, blade and track. Scheppach CS55. Not good enough for pro work but plenty good enough for diy
Thanks for the advice. Laminated chipboard is what I meant; what kitchen cabinets and most flat pack furniture is made of. Furniture board is the 'posh' name Homebase and B&Q give it, probably so they can charge more for it?
Freddie, what cutting tools do you have? The bottom line is, cut with the teeth cutting through from the decorative side. If you have a circular saw, and the teeth are fine enough and in good order, then a clamped wood rail to guide the saw is a must. The board will be placed so's the nice finished surface is on the underside so's the saw blade cuts upwards. If you saw ain't up to much, then cut leaving a couple of mm to the line, and then use a smoothing plane with the finished surafce facing you - cut along the edge but slightly sliding the plane downwards as you go so's there's no risk of lifting the laminate edge. Another tip is to first run a Stanley knife along a straight edge on the finished side - this way the laminate shouldn't get chipped beyond the cut. Then plane to the line.
...and don't forget, if you use the 'straight-edge and clamp' method, mind you don't leave clamp marks on the good side of the board. Mr. HandyAndy - Really
Thanks for your answers, I actually have a Bosch PKS46 circular saw which takes 150mm blades. Any idea what would be the best blade to use for this job? There does not seem to be a big range of 150mm blades available. Sorry if I sound a bit THICK, but wouldn't a clamped wooden rail be cut by the saw blade?
The clamped rail(guide) is clamped a certain distance from the cut-line(determined by the distance between edge of bottom plate to edge of saw teeth, depending on which way you are cutting). The bottom plate of the power saw runs along your clamped straight-edge. Never mind the teeth, the slower you push the saw through, the better the cut will be. Set the blade to just poke through the bottom of your piece to be cut. Mr. HandyAndy - Really
if you keep in mind with a powertool a guide or baton will always involve the tool being used in a safe correct manor as designed with safe support and minimum extra cutting off material so think rubbing against at the side or base to guide along a strait line or several directions if a jig
Guys why didn't you go for laminate or bamboo flooring, it will look nice and no headach of cutting furniture board. bamboo rugs
Your furniture board can have resin pockets in it, which you won't see until you cut it; which compromises your finish. But in general I would trim off the excess with a circular saw, then clamp a straight edge and router to the finished line.
Best way....but also make sure you're careful at the edges otherwise you can pull the laminate away from the chipboard........cut into the board with the router spinning "in to" the edge........