Cutting Laminate

[northern]

I need t cut the black high loss laminate in the galley to make a bigger hole for a new microwave. The material under the laminate is 1/2" plywood.
Any idea how not to chip and cut a strait line and rounder corners.

 

[B BARKER]

If you have room to cut with a saber saw get you a down cut blade and take your time and go slow...put some blue painters tape on it and mark on that...

 

[PMC]

How clean do you want those rounded corners? The best finish would be to make a template to guide a flush bit router along.

 

[gerryb]

IMO, whatever you do, get yourself a good quality laminate cutting blade for your saw and router bit for your router. It makes all the difference.

 

[sdarc]

Mark out the hole size needed. Use blue tape. Drill holes in the corners using a forstner bit. Sized for the radius needed. Get a laminate scoring tool. It is similar to a glass cutter. Using a straight edge score the laminate. Use multiple passes to get it deep. Then you can use a jig saw or small circular saw to make the cuts. Using sharp fine tooth blades. Down cut blades are available difficult to use as the blade is pushing the saw away and pulling towards the work. A router and template is great but may be hard to fasten template to vertical surface.

 

[bbwhitejr]

Another tool that may work well in this case is a RotoZip. I have used it for all sorts of stuff.

Bennett

 

[northern]

Thanks all for info. I will start with template then cut as suggested.
You only get one shot at it so will follow all the suggestions. Will make 2 templates one a bit smaller so I can see what works best then one the correct size to finish things off. It is a winter project. Will post how it all went.