Rough P-Lam Edges, Specs, and AWI Standards A bad case of chip-out on some laminated door edges leads to an informative discussion of AWI standards and quality specifications, along with some good guesses about what caused the unacceptable chip-out. November 23, 2012
AWI Quality Standards and Balanced Lamination Here's a long discussion of good practice for making laminate cabinet doors, and what the Architectural Woodworking Institute's quality certification standards require. September 27, 2008
Laminate and Substrate Movement A question about what might cause melamine laminate to pull loose from a countertop leads to an in-depth look at the materials involved. April 18, 2006
Making Laminate Countertops This complicated thread combines a healthy helping of newbie advice with some advanced debating about seam location, plus a couple of pro fabricator tips.August 16, 2012
On-Site Laminate Cutting Tips and Tricks Cabinet re-facing work calls for a lot of cut-and-fit laminate work. Here's a long discussion of ways to go about the task. May 6, 2007
Shopping for a Hot Veneer Press Experts provide some technical insight for the benefit of a shop owner who is trying to select a laminate and veneer press with a heated platen. August 12, 2014
Laminate Windowsills Shrinking in Service Particleboard cores of laminate architectural elements can shrink in place due to seasonal changes in interior humidity. September 5, 2010
Correcting High Spots on Laminate Tops Tiny bits of debris left on the matching surfaces during glue-up can cause high spots to show on a laminate top. Here are tips on how to prevent that, and how to fix it when it does happen. March 29, 2006
Making Concrete Countertops Fabricating concrete countertops is not rocket science, but it takes practice — and it isn't cheap. March 26, 2007
Do Edgebanders Provide Perfect Output? Few, if any edgebanders will consistently produce panels that can pass your thumb's feel test — and none will without continual tending by a good operator. December 27, 2006
Repairing Bubbles in a Laminate Countertop You can fix a contact-cement adhesion problem with a hot iron. Also, here is some advice on contact cement application equipment. August 15, 2011
Cutting a Post-Formed Laminate Countertop Hiring the job out to a well-equipped countertop shop is your best bet — but here's how to do it with an installer's toolkit. February 8, 2008
Solid Surface for a Steam Room Ceiling? Be cautious, but not scared, about using solid surfacing in a non-warranteed application like a steam room. December 28, 2006
Laminate Countertop Seam Tolerances Customers may not be aware of industry standards for laminate seams; a third opinion is sometimes helpful. November 12, 2006
Shopping for a High-Volume Laminating Machine If you're looking for manufacturing equipment to laminate a lot of vinyl to a variety of substrates, look carefully at the options. You'll have to sift through a lot of confusing claims. April 11, 2008
Diamond tooling on laminate Tool life and feed rates when using diamond tooling to cut laminate. November 7, 2001
Wood Edge Detail for a Laminate Countertop Laminate trimming, edge attachment, and rounding-over technique for a wood edge on a laminate counter or table top. January 24, 2006
Laminate Application Basics Tips on adhesives and trimming for a newcomer to plastic laminate work. December 30, 2005
Working With Aluminum Laminate Aluminum laminate can be very difficult to rout, trim, and file. Here's a story of lessons learned by one fabricator. August 14, 2007
Making a Wood Edge Flush with a Laminate Top Flushing up the top surface of a wood-edged laminate countertop is tricky, any way you do it. Here are some suggestions. April 10, 2007
Laminate Trimming Tips and Tricks You work with laminate, you do a lot of edge trimming. Here are some tricks the smooth professionals use. April 11, 2008
Melamine/Laminate Panels A discussion of practical ways of building cabinets with melamine exteriors and laminate interiors. October 13, 2010
Edge-Banding Issues with Laminated Doors Minor thickness variations in shop-laid laminate doors cause the edgebander to scuff the laminate. What's the fix? May 10, 2005
Laminate Trimming Technique Bit selection and lubricant choice for trouble-free trimming of countertop edges. March 14, 2006
Applying Laminate to a Curved Wall Installers puzzle over how to seam sections of laminate applied to a curved wall as an architectural covering. July 15, 2009
Cracks at Sink Corners in Plastic Laminate Tops in a science lab show cracking at sink corners. Info here on movement issues, and on chemical-resistant laminate material. April 11, 2008
Quality Control with Gloss Laminates It's hard to get laminate flat enough that imperfections won't show, when the surface is glossy. February 27, 2015
Installing Backsplash Backsplash installation tips, including a cool new product. March 14, 2006
Making a Miter-Fold Joint Here's a detailed description of how to make a miter-fold corner with laminate material. July 3, 2008
Repairing Solid Surface Seams An imperfect seam poses problems for a countertop installer. Here's the story, along with advice for fixing seams in place. November 13, 2005
Sustainable Adhesives for Laminates Recommendations for "green" contact adhesives for use with laminate material, and a closer look at the details of the rules. October 3, 2011
Slip Sheet Material Choices Countertop fabricators discuss dowels, "slip sheet" materials, and other options for aligning materials to substrates after applying contact cement.January 14, 2013
Applying Laminate with an Edgebander Yes, you can apply high-pressure laminate to panel edges using an edgebander. Here are tips on trimming and adhesives. February 16, 2012
Laminate Door Fabrication Tips Advice on applying laminate to glazed MDF cabinet doors, with some words about edgebanding and lacquer detailing. November 13, 2005
Edgebanding with No Edgebander Alternative ways to apply edgebanding to small runs of laminate doors when you have no edgebander. September 23, 2006
Splinters Under Laminate How to remove splinters that are telegraphing through freshly-applied laminate, and tips on avoiding the problem next time. November 12, 2006
Countertop Materials: What Does the Market Want? Countertop and cabinet contractors discuss the current popularity of stone, solid surfacing, laminate, concrete, and green recycled composites as of mid-2009. February 14, 2010
Countertop Equipment A brief description of post-forming and countertop sawing equipment. September 20, 2008
Laminate on One Face of Melamine A debate over whether it's okay to apply laminate to just one face of a melamine panel for cabinets and cabinet doors. March 26, 2009
Rubber T-Mold Tips and Tricks Trimming, fitting, and touch-up tricks for T-mold on the edge of laminate tops. March 9, 2010
Uses for Sassafras Sassafras has been called "poor man's oak" for its durability, strength and beauty. The markets for it are small ans specialized. April 20, 2011
Flexible Countertop Templating Material With plastic material you can roll up after the template is built, transporting the template is easier. September 30, 2009
Site Cutting and Mitering Postform Countertops Handling these tricky miter cuts on site when the fabricating shop went out of business in mid-job proved less than fully satisfactory. July 16, 2012
Countertop delamination After five years, why is an HPL countertop delaminating? October 2, 2001
Substrate for Laminating Cabinet Doors Plywood cores are not recommended for laminate cabinet doors (MDF, particleboard, or plywood-core MDF are better). July 26, 2010
Laminate Cutting and Seaming This thread describes a router jig for making clean cuts and seams in HPL joints. June 12, 2014
Getting Rid of Scrap Laminate Suggestions for putting excess laminate into the hands of someone who might need it. September 17, 2014
Copper Countertop Tips Copper is tricky to work with. Here are a few thoughts on using it for countertops. April 17, 2009
Spray Adhesives for Plastic Laminate Adhesives labeled for use with "plastic" may actually not perform will with plastic laminate counter materials, which have a paper backing. February 14, 2010
Should Solid Surface Joints be Invisible? With some solid surface materials, joints are highly visible because the material is "directional" or otherwise non-uniform. April 20, 2011
Interruptions, Interruptions What can you do if you've applied contact cement to your particleboard, but then something happens before you apply the laminate? February 3, 2011
Quick Shop-Built Fabricating Stands A laminate shop owner describes his quick-to-make workstands made with scraps of panel material, cut to size and slotted to interlock. December 30, 2007
Repairing A Laminate Seam Placed to close to the kitchen sink, a laminate countertop seam is lifting. Here are quick tips on prevention and repair. December 14, 2005
Reversing a Router's Rotation Woodworkers discuss ways to make a hand-held router spin backwards for special situations. September 17, 2008
Is a Solid Surface Crack Fixable? Seaming a solid surface countertop over a heat source such as a dishwasher may cause a crack that can't be repaired. March 4, 2009
Water-Based Glue, Lamination, and Warping Using water-based adhesives for laminating to wood-fiber panels can cause the panels to warp. To prevent, laminate both sides. May 20, 2006
Filing Laminate Edges Pros give pointers on ways to file laminate counter edges smooth. July 29, 2007
Trimming and Filing Laminate Edges Advice on the bits, lubricants, and methods to use for smooth corners on laminate countertops with laminate front edges. September 15, 2011
Laminating HPL onto Cylinders It's hard to apply sufficient pressure to a cylinder for good bonding of contact cement, but here are a few tips. August 23, 2006
Working with Water-Based Laminate Adhesive Roll out with a low-nap roller, and don't let the glue or a new countertop freeze. The good news: no odor or headaches. October 28, 2005
Sourcing Exotic Laminate Cabinetmakers discuss how to find unusual and interesting laminates, including distinctive patterns and glow-in-the-dark laminate. February 12, 2009
Troubleshooting Warping and Delaminating Using a heat tunnel during fabrication of laminate tops can cause the top to warp because of temperature-related expansion and contraction of the laminate. March 13, 2009
Seam Detailing for a Deep Solid-Surface Countertop An 80-inch by 38-inch countertop made with 30-inch maximum width solid surface panels creates some head-scratching about where and how to make the seam. May 23, 2007
Solid Surface for Cabinet Doors Combining wood with solid-surface material raises risk related to movement caused by moisture or temperature changes. June 30, 2009
Finger Pull Detail for Laminate Doors Painting the cove detail to match the laminate is more reliable than fitting laminate to the profile. July 12, 2012
Shrinkage and Laminate Seam Tightness As a wood-based product, laminate changes dimension in response to variations in ambient moisture. This can create gaps at joints or seams. April 4, 2011
Tight Heat-Bending Laminate Here's a short but informational conversation on applying heat to laminate in order to accomplish tight bends. July 26, 2010
Sharpening Laminate Files There are laminate file sharpening services, but you might try a simple acid bath. July 28, 2008
Cutting Post-Form Laminate Tops If you don't have a slider, you can cut the top from the back side with a circular saw. November 14, 2014
Filing Laminate Edges Left-Handed Files are mostly designed for the right-handed craftsman, but a left-hander can file as well as a right-hander after practice. June 12, 2014
A High-Gloss Finish for Solid Surface Here's a polishing schedule for buffing solid surfacing to a high gloss, along with a warning (it scratches easily). November 13, 2005
Applying Laminate to a Radius Tradesmen explain handwork techniques for fitting laminate to radiused postform countertops. June 20, 2005
Laminate Trimming Tips Two quick tips on a clean job when trimming laminate edges. December 15, 2005
Laminate over Melamine Quick, simple advice on adhering plastic laminate to melamine as a retrofit. March 25, 2010
Multiple Cabinet Refacing Can you reface over existing refacing? Yes, if the first layer still adheres well. December 30, 2007
Stacking Laminations in a Vacuum Bag Stacking multiple pieces in one vacuum bag to save time increases the likelihood that pieces will not be under sufficient pressure. March 16, 2015
Post-Forming Laminate in Three Dimensions You can't bend laminate to around a compound curved substrate, but there are other specialized materials that will do it. December 1, 2010
Blemishes on Granite Countertops What seems like a mar or mark might be the natural look of stone, or it could be residue from a spill. In any case, granite is hard to touch up. October 2, 2005
Balanced Laminating Over Melamine Here's a detailed discussion about whether it's okay to apply laminate over just one face of a melamine door, and about various other ways to achieve the same product. October 12, 2012
Balanced Construction of Plastic Laminate Doors Experience shows that balancing P-lam doors can prevent the occasional case of warping. Here are thoughts on how to lay up balanced P-lam panels. February 12, 2010
Presses Basic info on manual and automated veneer and laminate presses. November 12, 2008
Bubbles Under Laminate Help with a visual defects associated with spray contact cement and laminate countertops. April 21, 2011
Bank Job (Refacing Laminate) Thoughts about the pitfalls and difficulties involved in resurfacing a whole bankful of laminate countertops. February 23, 2008
Biscuit joining vs. tie-bolts Is it possible to join post-form tops and shop-built substrate with biscuits? June 24, 2001
Buying a Used Edgebander There's more to running a glue-pot edgebander than plugging it in and turning it on — so be cautious when buying used equipment. December 30, 2005
Heating Laminate for Postforming A question about a slight delamination problem prompts a long set of tips about effective heating for postforming. February 1, 2015
Poured Inlay Work in Solid Surface Advise on using heat, additives, and other tricks to get good results with routing and pouring details into a solid surface top. July 16, 2012
Basics of Applying Laminate A beginner gets the basic introductory explanation of how to apply laminate to a particleboard top. January 18, 2011
Hand Filing and Laminate Trimming Bits The right bit can reduce the need for cleaning up edges with a hand file, but may not eliminate touch-up filing altogether. May 13, 2009
Bending Corian How to bend Corian to create small cylindrical shapes. June 24, 2001
HPL Tops with Solid Wood Edges A little advice on constructing small restaurant tabletops with HPL top faces and solid wood edges. June 12, 2014
Bending Solid Surface Edges Advice on miter-folding methods for solid surface corners (including radiused edges). October 28, 2014
Priming for P-lam Edgebanding When you apply plastic laminate as edgebanding, using a primer helps a lot with strong adhesion in service. February 14, 2010
Tools for Solid Surfacing To work with solid surfacing, you want professional quality routers and sanders, and the right type of sandpaper and bits. April 11, 2008
Polishing Solid-Surface Tops You can bring solid surfacing to a high gloss, but that doesn't mean you should. June 12, 2014
Solid Surface Pricing A little info on the solid surfacing market, circa 2006. September 26, 2006
Repairing Scratches in Glossy Laminate From quick and simple to time-consuming and elaborate, here are ways to get a visible scratch "below the radar." September 26, 2006
Subtops Under Solid Surface Countertops Solid surface is not installed over a subtop, but over (at most) widely spaced mounting strips (and let the installer worry about those). September 26, 2006
Repairing Scratched Melamine No repair is perfect, but here are some pretty good options for a surface gouge in a melamine cabinet interior. September 23, 2006
More on Spray-Applying Contact Cement An extended discussion of pressurized tanks, spray equipment, application techniques, and adhesive performance. June 10, 2006
Water Damage to Laminate Counter Seams A miter seam in a countertop near a seam is a risky situation. Here, pros consider a case of joint failure. July 3, 2008
Joints in Very Long Laminate Tops Advice on fabricating and assembling large countertops so that laminate joints fall over solid substrate rather than at the substrate joints. May 3, 2011
Removing Glue Film from Laminate Wiping off glue squeeze-out has dulled the sheen on some laminate tops. Here are suggested remedies. February 25, 2009
PVA Glue for P-lam? PVA glue is not as fast as contact cement for applying plastic laminate, but it gives good results (if you choose the right glue). February 14, 2010
Beveled Edge Fabrication Purchasing, making, and applying laminate beveled-edge material. December 6, 2011
Solid Surface as a Shelf Nosing An architect's query sets off a spirited discussion of using solid surface material for shelf nosings. Appropriate adhesives, durability, and movement rates are issues (and yes, it has been done before). June 10, 2006
Does it Pay to Own an Edgebander? A good edgebander can really boost your productivity, but how much machine you need depends on how much volume you're doing. October 9, 2006
Finishing Wood Edges of Laminate Tops Suppose you want to edge-band laminate tops before finishing the edgebanding? Here are some creative ideas for protecting the laminate top from overspray while finishing just the edge. May 22, 2007
Moving to Metric Tips on making the transition as smooth as possible. September 9, 2004
Laminate Cabinet Tips Advice (sometimes conflicting) about how to build high-quality laminate cabinets. July 5, 2006
Clamp Cart Shop-made carriers for clamps. December 26, 2004
Edgebanding Glue Holding Problems Cold melamine stored in the unheated shop overnight may be stopping edgebander glue from adhering properly. March 20, 2006
Cleaning Glue Off Melamine After Edge-Banding "Hot" solvents can dull melamine or leave a combined glue-and-thinner residue behind. Here are some suggested solutions. February 26, 2007
Edgebander Glue-Pot Cleanup A well-used edgebander can be a sticky mess. Here are tips for the occasional thorough cleanup. April 18, 2006
Troubleshooting Melamine Chip-Out Around Bore Holes Drill bit type and drilling speed control can reduce chipout on two-sided melamine panels, and there are also touch-up solutions for minor chipping problems. February 26, 2007
Melamine Quality Issues Cut-price melamine from the big-box DIY stores doesn't match up to professional-grade material, say the pros. December 28, 2005
Solid Surface CounterTop Watch as a CNC router cuts out and profiles solid surface countertops. July 12, 2007
Pricing Solid-Surface Countertops To make money fabricating and installing solid-surface counters, be sure to charge for all the incidental costs. September 23, 2006
Polishing Granite This thread covers a helpful topic: polishing scratches out of granite tops. June 18, 2010
Bit Life in High Pressure Laminate How many sheets should you be able to cut before a bit wears out? Comparing carbide with diamond, and a discussion of feed rates and settings. July 3, 2005
Poor Adhesion After Edging MDF Why has the edge come off this MDF? Maybe it's the glue, maybe it's the method... May 10, 2005
Glue Injection Techniques When laminate or veneer is lifting, you can make a slit, inject adhesive, and clamp for a clean repair. Here are some detailed tips on getting the glue where it needs to go. February 20, 2008
Edgebanding a Round Table Here's a list of steps for applying edgebanding to a round laminate tabletop. April 8, 2013
A Solid Choice Basics of solid surface materials and their fabrication, and why shops are adding them to their product lines. July 20, 2002
Using Water-Based Contact Cements When you switch from solvent-based to water-based contact cement, there are a few new things to learn. Pros share application tips in this thread from the Woodweb Adhesives Forum. July 2, 2005
Melamine Versus Plywood for Kitchen Cabinets It's an apples-to-oranges comparison, but one that sets off a thoughtful exchange of views about workability and performance in this thread from the Cabinetmaking forum. June 28, 2005
Burning Off Water Damage Wipe the white discoloration with alcohol, touch it with a lit match, and Bob's your uncle. January 7, 2010
Production Gluing of High Density Plastic Laminates This article describes the gluing of high density plastic laminates (i.e. Formica, Debar, Nevamar, Micarta, Pionite and the like) to plywood, lumber core, and particleboard core panels - 1998
Bracing solid surface When using solid surface materials, what sort of "bridgework" is needed for support? June 24, 2001