Laminate

[BLah247]

I tried searching for some posts relevant but most were over 4 years old.  Don't know if newer products are out or anything.  Here's my question;

I'm using a blondewood plywood 3/4" for my cabinet.  I'm not really interested in the 'wood' look so I don't want to stain it or paint it and have the grains showing.  What kind of black laminate material can I use to cover the sides, back, front pieces... pretty much everything.  It has to be plyable enough to mold over some routed pieces and durable enough not to scratch real easy.

With laminate do I need to get 13/16 t-molding or is 3/4 sufficient?

[ScottS]

To answer your last question first: the size T-molding you need will be determined by the actual thickness of your plywood (3/4-inch plywood is usually more like 22/32nds) plus the thickness of the laminate. Until you know the exact laminate and measure the thickness of your plywood, you won't know for sure. I'd order some sample pieces of T-molding and then compare them to your wood+laminate combo.

Too bad you bought plywood when you don't really want a wood look! Black melamine or MDO would have been a better choice... Barring that, your best bet is a good coat of primer followed by black paint. Laminate, I think you'll find, will be problematic if you need to wrap it around curved pieces; most of the stuff you can buy is brittle and tends to break rather than bend. I'm sure you'll be able to find something, but it may require time and/or money.

[Kaytrim]

Laminate, I think you'll find, will be problematic if you need to wrap it around curved pieces; most of the stuff you can buy is brittle and tends to break rather than bend. I'm sure you'll be able to find something, but it may require time and/or money.

To bend plastic laminate you would need to heat it with a heat gun being careful not to burn the plastic.  Even with good heating techniques there still is a limit as to how much you can bend the stuff.  The minimum radius that you can bend laminate is measured in inches not fractions of an inch so if you are wanting to bend it over a rounded edge it is not possible.  I do know that there is vinyl sold in rolls but I don't think that it is in big enough widths to cover your cabinet sides without leaving a seam.

Paint would be your best bet in this case.  Make sure you fill in any holes or imperfections in the plywood.  Then take and sand the bare wood starting with a 80 grit paper and working your way up to 200 grit you could get a real smooth base to start with.  Then paint with 2 coats of primmer followed by 2 coats of paint and finally with 2 coats of clear.  Make sure that you wet sand between each coat with a minimum of 400 grit sandpaper and wipe off all sanding dust.  Taking the time needed you will end up with a nice glossy or satin finish depending on the final paint you use, without the wood grain showing.

 

[ScottS]

To bend plastic laminate you would need to heat it with a heat gun being careful not to burn the plastic.  Even with good heating techniques there still is a limit as to how much you can bend the stuff.  The minimum radius that you can bend laminate is measured in inches not fractions of an inch so if you are wanting to bend it over a rounded edge it is not possible.  I do know that there is vinyl sold in rolls but I don't think that it is in big enough widths to cover your cabinet sides without leaving a seam.

Vinyl is sold in rolls that are wide enough (e.g. 3-feet wide), but it may be difficult to find. Different laminates have different abilities to bend. Someone at a home center (Home Depot, Lowe's) might know more... though I wouldn't bet on it.

Paint would be your best bet in this case.  Make sure you fill in any holes or imperfections in the plywood.  Then take and sand the bare wood starting with a 80 grit paper and working your way up to 200 grit you could get a real smooth base to start with.  Then paint with 2 coats of primmer followed by 2 coats of paint and finally with 2 coats of clear.  Make sure that you wet sand between each coat with a minimum of 400 grit sandpaper and wipe off all sanding dust.  Taking the time needed you will end up with a nice glossy or satin finish depending on the final paint you use, without the wood grain showing.

I would offer slightly different advice about painting... If you start with a decent quality plywood (e.g. furniture-grade rather than CDX), I'd start sanding at 150 grit and stop at 220. The surface veneers on most plywood are very thin, and relatively smooth, which is why I wouldn't go all the way to 80 grit at the start.

I'd put on a coat of primer and see how it turned out. If it seem thin or soaks into the wood a lot, I'd add a second coat. If the primer covers well, you may not need a second coat. After that, I'd follow the manufacturer's recommendations as far as painting and sanding. If you use a house paint and a roller with very little nap, you may not need to sand between coats.

Finally, I probably wouldn't bother to clearcoat the project. I'd buy a paint with the surface sheen I wanted (probably matte, but maybe semi-gloss) and just leave it at that. If you're worried about cleaning, semi-gloss is the way to go. Or try Benjamin Moore's Regal Matte: it has a fairly flat sheet, but contains additives that make it easier to clean. I've been fairly impressed with it...

For best results, it's always a good idea to paint a piece of scrap lumber using exactly the techniques you're planning to use on your cabinet. If it doesn't turn out quite right, you can throw the scrap away and try something slightly different. If you start painting your cabinet and find out that it's not working... that's obviously a much bigger problem! Get everything right on the scraps, then move to the cab.

[BLah247]

I'm really not interested in painting it.  The curves I'm talking about are probably 1/2" roundings, nothing to complex.  I did see at Lowe's a roll of Melamine that seemed plyable enough to take a curve.  I just didn't know if that would look good in the end.

[ScottS]

I'm really not interested in painting it.  The curves I'm talking about are probably 1/2" roundings, nothing to complex.  I did see at Lowe's a roll of Melamine that seemed plyable enough to take a curve.  I just didn't know if that would look good in the end.

Melamine is great, if you can get it in sizes large enough to cover your cabinet panels without needing a seam. I've only seen it in 2'x8' sheets, for $30/sheet. Given that you'll need probably need at least 2-3 of those sheets, it starts to add up quickly! Plus, if you don't get one that has an adhesive back, you'll have to spend hours dealing with fumes from contact cement or spray adhesive. I hate to paint, but I hate contact cement even more 

[BLah247]

Update on this question.  I've decided on doing the sides in laminate.  There's no curves so it's not going to be an issue.  However I would also like to laminate the front pieces as well such as my keyboard drawer front and front door, control panel base.  The problem here is there are 1/2" curves on these pieces.

Formica makes a Grade 20 .7 mm sheet laminate.  Has anyone used these?  Seeing that this is going on the side and front it doesn't need to withstand the abuse a kitchen countertop needs and at .7 mm I would think that this could be worked into a 1/2" bend with a little heat and pressure.

Anyone?

[ducattiman]

Sorry Blah cant answer any of ur questions but i did a search on Formics and they have aNetherlands company not to far from where i live and they have all kinds of cool laminate


 U GET A VERY BIG +A THX