laminating question

[_) (V) (-)]

Hey guys,

I'm pretty new to woodworking so excuse me if this question is too 'elementary' for the crowd here.

I'm working on a control panel and my neighbor, who does laminating work at his job offfered to slap a sheet on the thing for me when I was ready. COOL!

I asked him if it would be better to laminate the panel before drilling the holes for the controls and he said, no. That I should go ahead and drill all the holes and cut the laminate out later with a router, after it's been stuck down.

Does this seem right for a guy with limited face time on a router?

[wakerlet]

Your neighbor is correct.  You risk cracking, flaking or otherwise making the laminate around your holes look bad if you cut them at the same time with a hole cutter or similar.  Cutting the large holes first, laminating and then routing out the laminate will give you a cleaner look, IMO.

For the smaller, bolt holes, it won't mater since you won't rout them out anyway.

-Todd

[Torc]

you will be drilling a small hole in the "button holes". The hole will be smaller than 1-1/8" but larger than the router bit. Adjust trimming bit so the bearing hits the plywood underneath the laminate and the blad will fully cut into the laminate. Then insert the router with a laminate trimming bit, turn it on and make a little circle. It will take seconds to cut each one out. It should make a clean cut and be very easy to do.

[Torc]

you will be drilling a small hole in the "button holes". The hole will be smaller than 1-1/8" but larger than the router bit. Adjust trimming bit so the bearing hits the plywood underneath the laminate and so the blade starts below the laminate. Then insert the router with a laminate trimming bit, turn it on and make a little circle. It will take seconds to cut each one out. It should make a clean cut and be very easy to do.

[_) (V) (-)]

OK, sounds easy enough.
Thanks for the input!

Would I have any reason for concern if the laminant cement builds up around the edge of the 'inner' button holes, y'kno, like gumming up the router bit?

[NiteWalker]

It shouldn't give you too much trouble gumming up the bearing or insides of the holes.

[max8061]

I did this yesterday and it worked great! The hardest part was finding a drill bit wide enough to fit the trimmer bit in.

I didn't notice any contact cement on any of the bits I used. 

[max8061]

Here it is (if I attached correctly). Turned out better than I expected. Make sure to show us yours when you're done.

[_) (V) (-)]

Cool! I like the arc'd pattern you have the buttons lined up in. Might try that setup on my mock-up board to see how it feels.

And you can bet I'll want to show this thing off once I finish it. Check my Project Anouncment thread for more info on the Extend-0-Panel 2000.

I could really use some help with the geometry on that rear panel part.