What’s your method of choice for scribing a countertop?
Today, I installed an L-shaped counter. The backsplash will be tile, and I might have got away without scribing it at all. The fit was reasonably close. I wanted it to fit neatly in the interim, though.
I’ve installed a few counters as a DIY-er, and I always felt that I was close, but not quite. Today I was determined to take as much time as I needed to achieve good results. It was OK, but I’ve got a lot of room for improvement.
At first, I tried to imitate the countertop installer with whom I’m most familiar. He always uses a jig-saw with a down-cut blade, to avoid chipping, right on top of the cabinets. Wow, is that tricky. Wandering only a hair to one side of the line, then the other, makes for an inaccurate cut. Also, my blade tended to flex, creating the opposite of a back-cut. Not good. And of course, the cabinet gables are in the way, so you have to shuffle the counter back and forth.
I had better luck with the belt-sander. Much better. But it was harder to access the back of the counter. I didn’t have a helper, so I was extremely uninterested in taking the counter on and off the cabinets. I just pulled it forward enough to reach the back. This worked out really well, except I wore out the only belt I had for it before I was 100% satisfied.
It looks pretty reasonable before the tile covers it anyway.
Replies
Sounds like you did well, especially if you will be tiling over it. Belt sanders are a wonderful thing, aren't they?
If you are tiling the backsplash don't sweat it to a point.............
You may also attempt to neatly remove some thickness of the wall surface (if it is drywall) to fit the countertop more snugly to the wall.
Eric
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Right on!!!!! Well, ok, another must-have tool. Like the list wasn't long enough.I've never been happy with my Black & Decker belt sander, which has absolutely no good qualities except, apparently, longevity. Which is kind of a bad quality at this point.
Biff, Just for clarity "scribing" is often understood to mean the act of marking the piece for cutting. Helps when communicating if the same word isn't used for both the action of marking and the action of stock removal or cutting. Although I use the words interchangeably myself quite often, it does get confusing however.
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Hey, thanks. I've only heard the word used to describe the process of marking and cutting, but then I'm pretty new at this game!
Is that the old orange/yellow plastic body ones?
Are you asking about scribing or cutting? For scribing, I get it close then lay a pencil flat against the wall to transfer the detail to the counter being installed. For cutting, I'll cut to the line with Bosch jigsaw (fine blade for laminate cutting), then fine tune and backcut with belt and/or RO sander. PC's new mini belt sander is a nice too for this, fairly aggressive stock removal and can easily control with one hand if necessary.
I meant scribing. I asked primarily because, when I was a project manager, our countertop installer only used his jigsaw. His results are consistently excellent.I'm getting the impression that he's just really handy with a jigsaw. Good hand/eye co-ordination + practice, or whatever. But, he's been at it for 20 years, so who knows how long it took to get that good. He used to use a hand plane when the counters had a pine strip for scribing. I can see how that would work well. That PC sander seems like the ####.
bulk it with a jig saw and a down cut blade and fine tune it with a belt sander...
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I suppose you could save yourself a step--if you were real careful and clamped the counter exactly the right distance from the wall, you could run the right edge of the shoe of your "jigsaw" against the wall and scribe/cut at same time. Each end would have to be done some other way unless you have a flush cutting jigsaw (front of shoe even with front of blade).
Huh.I'm thinking router would be the tool to use in that case. Kind of a weird approach to use, though, and you'd have to run the router from right to left, which would feel unnatural. I see some promise in that method, if you're willing to align the counter perfectly, first. I'm going to have to try that, sometime. The next time I install a counter, I might have to take some time out and practice scribing and cutting an old counter, and see how well that works.
Actually, shouldn't a router be run counterclockwise around things (and clockwise for insides--like sink cutouts), so right to left would be the way to go?
If you're facing the work, with the router between you and the edge, you go counterclockwise, which is left to right. If you'd do it backwards, with the work between you and the router, you'd have to go right to left in order to be going counterclockwise. (Isn't that what I said?)I'm just saying that it would feel weird - how often do you reach over the work and put the router at arm's length?
that's ok, you can delete. Took me the three I have sitting in a cabinet to realize I should have just went and bought the Bosch years before I did.
gotta be a practical purpose for those ugly puppies somewhere
Yeah. . .
Okay, right--you and I agree. And yes, holding router at arm's length wouldn't be my idea of fun--although since you'd have the whole back wall as a "fence" you could control it by shoving the base into that wall. (I suppose you could also climb up onto the counter to work.)
I use a Bosch power planer (more rapid stock removal than a belt sander and less dust--easy to back bevel too).
I tune up with a belt sander and a right angle grinder (with two sanding discs back to back).
Throw that belt sander away and use a right angle grinder, takes about 1/4 of the time to do it and you can fit it to about any irregularities imaginable.
Belt sander is limiting and slow!
Doug
Im with you on this one .
Power planer to get it close and finish her off with an angle grinder.
I hog the back undercutting with an aggressive wheel on roll tops . Normally close enough but can finish with a 100 grit wheel.
I never was comfortable with a belt sander and others its choice . Practice I guess of either . I like that long flat Bosch belt sander the best. The portacables are a bear to hold but what power ! I know a guy that belt sands his cabinet faces , ouch. I cringe.
Tim
When making laminate tops, I like to scribe the substrate before applying laminate. I often scribe each piece I cut individually, this way I can move them around easier for trimming, I trim with a small circ. saw,jig saw or power planer, depending on how much has to come off. After applying laminate, simply trim it with a flush cutting bit in a trim router. This usually eliminates the need for downcutting jigsaw blades(which I find difficult to cut with). When doing sink cutouts, experiment with standard jig saw blades. Ones with little "sideset" (Is that the proper term?) cut with little or no chipping. I agree though, why get crazy with it if you will have a tile splash,3/16" is close enough, EXCEPT at the end of a run such as at a stove etc.
I'm within an 1/8" everywhere. But I'm used to seeing a professional get much closer than that - it looks like it's growing out of the wall.