Trimming angled ends

[jimbo123]

Hi all,

Have been reading quite a bit here over the last few months,.. enough to have got me started at building a cab.

Not sure if this is the right area,.. seemed like a best fit.

I decided on a curved front for the control panel, which has come up a treat,.. but,....

I plan on laminating and I don't have a tilt-base on my trim router (not even sure one exists for it).

There's a few edges where I'm looking for advise on how to get the laminate trimmed.

I've included an image of what it looks like.



The edges I'm having a problem with are:

• looking at left side - the front edge (similarly on the right side)
• looking at front - the top edge

Are there methods other than using a flush bit that can be manually used ? File ? Is there risk of the laminate getting damaged, or should it be ok if taken slowly?

Oh and also,.. is anything special needed to cater for the bend, (on the front )? Laminate won't try to straighten after its been glued on will it? Thought it'd be ok as kitchen benchtops often have the laminate going over the bullnosed edge, but i don't know if they do anything special to it with the bend.

Any advice/guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Jim.....

[floriske.nl]

Depending on the material you can use a sharp knife or chisel or the sharp edge of a rounded file to trim the laminate. This does take some practice though, so I'd advise to do some practice rounds first.

Be sure you always apply the pressure towards the material it's applied to so you won't tear (pieces) of the laminate.

[floriske.nl]

Another option would be to use a special trim router which can be set at an angle:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/tips/archive/2009/11/09/7-trim-router-tips.aspx

Next to that I forgot to try and answer your question about the radius last night.

The flexibility of the laminate depends a lot on the laminate thickness and material.

A good choice would be HPL (most commonly used for kitchen counter tops), for a small radius like a counter top you'd need what they call "post forming HPL" which can be bend in a pretty small radius by applying heat to it.

Very important in laminating is the right glue, a contact adhesive is most commonly used

[TopJimmyCooks]

How I would do this job to laminate a curved surface with angled edge:

build the piece to be laminated- the CP front in this case.
rough cut a piece of laminate to go on the front (as floriske noted, this curve is not an issue with plam, you can do it easily by hand).
hold or clamp the piece of laminate in place (dry, no glue) and trace around the cp front on the back of the laminate with a pencil.
take the piece of laminate and use it flat to make a template of the curved edge about 1/16" larger than the pencil line.
Route the curved edge of the piece of laminate using that template. 
Glue the piece of laminate to the front of the cp with the 1/16 overhang on the top edge. 
route the sides and bottom as per normal with the flush trim bit.

File off the 1/16" overhang of laminate with a plastic cut file.  These files are available where laminate is sold and are the best thing for a fast/smooth cut.  match the angle of the cp top.

I have done plenty of laminate work and I do not have an angled base laminate trimmer and can't justify buying one.  This will give good results - just spend 30 minutes carefully sneaking up on the curved edge with the file and you'll be fine. 

[jimbo123]

Thanks for the replies guys,.. @TJC that's exactly how I was going to go about it,.. Given that I 'd never laminated before I thought there may have been other ways.

Thanks again,

Jim.....