Anyone had any luck cutting laminate flooring and not destroying the saw blade?? Been using a 10″ carbide finish blade in the chop saw but its ruined by the end of job.
<!—-> <!—->
JAG<!—-><!—->
Remodeling Inc.<!—-> <!—->
<!—->
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Fine Homebuilding's editorial director has some fun news to share.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Have the same problem - not found a solution.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Figure the cost of a blade or a sharpening into each laminate floor job.
Sliders work much better than a regular chop saw, especially when the blade starts to get dull.
The slider is cutting a 1/4" of material as it pushes into the edge vs. a chopping action where the blade is trying to cut the whole width of the flooring at once.
nope
i always use a cheapie blade and chuck it
i've cut laminate in semidarkness and actually seen sparks coming off the blade
I've found the most cost effective way is to keep a seperate laminate chop saw and never change the blade. Then when you need to cut some laminate, you just burn your way through each piece.
One thing you will want to consider is to not use a finish blade. It will save you a little cash on the price of the blade, and the cuts don't look bad and are hidden anyway.
--Andy
Thanks all good ideas. Gives me the reason I needed to buy that slider!
I know I've seen a blade that claimed it was made for cutting laminate, I believe it was by Freud, I can't speak to how well it works or how much longer it will last.
Like CAG mentioned - there are special blades made for laminate.
The guy that sharpens my blades recommended using one.
I beleive he called it a triple chip blade - different tooth design.
There are laminate floor installers that swear by this tool:http://www.bullettools.com/pro_tools.html?decimal:tool_id=3
that's all I use is the triple chip for all trim work and so on they are gold smith blades a very good blade and the come to my shop and pick them up to be resharpend
Many of the finishes done in the flooring plants are ceramic types . . . meant for supertough wear characteristics.
Think silicon carbide.
I remember meeting with some Wilsonart engineers a few years back, discussing the coating technologies being used on engineered wood flooring and laminate flooring. It was said that the coatings were hard enough to wear holes in the steel button bottoms you can put on chair legs.
That is what is dulling your sawblades. You just need to buy more blades, pay for resharpening, and figure higher tooling costs into the flooring jobs.
The blades characterized as for laminates aren't made for this. It is not the laminate that is dulling the carbide. It's the ceramic-based clearcoat finish.
Laminate blades are for things like Formica. And as for melamine, there are special blades for that, also.
Edited 1/29/2006 8:57 am ET by Stinger
Thanks. That would explain the smoke from the chopsaw as soon as it touches the laminate.
Many Laminate blades say they are for Laminate Flooring. Most that I have found to be for Laminate Flooring are of the triple chip tooth design.
Do you have any recommendation of a blade type for cutting Laminate Flooring.
Triple chip or ATB will work OK. Just bear in mind that you are cutting a highly abrasive surface, and that the carbide will wear quickly.
If you have two saws, set one up with a new blade for the show cuts, and use a beater blade on the other saw for the hidden cuts.
havent read the thread but I know the answer.
Any miter saw blade will get dulled.
Start using a 7 1/4 blade in a table saw instead. Cutting from the bottom ,t he blade will last a lot longer . You should be able to do a whole job with a 12 dollar frued blade. 40 tooth. Beats a 100 dollar 12 inch blade for the trim saw.
Tim
Get that EZ and square. Alternative is make yourself a little jig like some folks do for vinyl siding, track to slide flooring through and 90 deg track to guide circ saw. Or you can just use the cheap laminate flooring, I would guess it's coating is not so bullet proof. (:-}
I did an Alloc floor a while back, and used my Forrest chopmaster for the flooring (and the aluminum backer plate). It still seems to cut fine, though I haven't compared it to a new blade.