Glue and Spray Equipmt for Laminate Tops
I need advice on several specific aspects of manufacturing laminate countertops. As a kitchen remodeler I’ve made perhaps 50 tops and recently a local lumberyard has been pushing me to go into that business. I’m exploring it and believe it could be profitable. But there are several areas where costs need to go down.
One is glue. I’ve been using the 3M 90 spray cans for the jobs but now that’s very expensive compared to something like the WilsonArt pink glue that comes in 5 and 55 gallon drums. Does anyone know how that is applied, what spray equipment (?) works with it or other alternatives. I’ve used yellow glue, contact cement, etc. but need something cheaper and faster. the 3M 90 is fast, just stinky and expensive for my purposes.
The other is squaring up inside corners. Routers, saws, Bosch planers (wonderful!) etc work great except where two inside pieces meet…especially when I need to trim laminate in there. Anyone got any ideas on how to do that other than cut close with a tool and then file…that’s slow so expensive.
Thanks for any advice in advance. I read Herrick Kimball’s book on this and it was a great help…perhaps he still hangs out here?
Ron
Replies
It will spray out of a conventional spray gun. (Spray grade)
It is a really nasty spray pattern but quite effective.( it shoots it more than sprays it )
We did thousands and thousands of square feet w/o any callbacks.
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Edited 2/11/2006 11:29 am ET by JHOLE
If you talk to our laminate supplier, they can hook you up with a dedicated spray rig.....decent gun, and you can buy the contact in everything from 28lb barbeque size cans to much bigger ones. That's if you wnat to use contact; that's been the standard, but now there are PVA's for laminate (needs to be pressed, or pinch-rolled then deadstacked which is what a lot of the production people are doing now.) All that stuff can be sprayed with the rght tip/nozzle.You can also use urea formaldehyde glue; we did our first counter last week with UF glue, and a vacuum press.....I'm sold. I think that is a great way to go for low-medium production.
When you say....'square up the inside corners'....I'm not sure what you mean....you're not supposed to square up inside corners with laminate unless it is two seperate pieces. If that is what you are doing, you could prepare the first few inches of the piece that will do the butting before you lay it down.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Good luck too you.
I was where you want to go. Had 70 employees on a good day we did over a hundred tops.
There isn't a day that I don't thank my lucky stars I got out of that biz.
Here's a couple of good ones to prepare yourself for....
You made my top 1/8" too short, when you remake it for free I'd like it in a different color and a foot longer.
You templeted it and it doesn't fit my lumpy bumpy wall... why?
I woke up this morning and there was this big bubble right next to the stove.
Thanks for rendering years of therapy worthless.... ;-)
Hey Ron,
I bought a regular paint pot [2.5 gal], changed to material supply holse to one designed for chemical solvents. Something else, change to hose couplings so that the Air is only regulated going into the pot and the Air for atomization at the tip is full bore. I've been using this setup for about thirteen years and get a good spray pattern with minimal overspray.
As far as inside-corner edges go......You can buy bits that are only 1/4 in. diameter that gets tite inside corners, leaving very little to file. All edges need to be filed anyway. After a few hundred, it's a snap.
One of the posters mentioned how picky customers can be.......go back and read that post again.....and again....don't get it........read again.
InTheCleftOfHisHand
ford
Thanks for all the good suggestions...I also appreciate the warnings. Some of those will undoubtedly come my way.
I am do some tops but usually use the wisonart solvent based glue and a roller and had good success, I was wondering on the paint pot how often do you have to clean the tip and gun and what size tip are using for this.