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Has anyone have experience cutting new laminate around curvy, small
places around the ports inside a sailboat. Of course, its not easy but I have damage from water rotting out plywood around the ports and I want to cover over the old wall using contact cement on the new laminate. thanks!
Laminate is the biggest pain in the @ss!!!
It is difficult to cut but also difficult to apply.
I'd consider some other material if possible or hire out somebody who knows the tricks of the trade.
I am assuming that you are replacing the rotten plywood substrate. If so then you can apply the laminate then cut out the openings with a laminate trimmer, which you should be able to rent. Be careful though as like any high speed tool, it takes a bit of getting used to. I would suggest that you practice on a couple of scrap pieces first to get the feel of working with such a device. It should work out fine.
If, as Ronbye assumes, you are replacing the rotten ply, you can trim the assembled plywood/laminate before installation with a router or a laminate trimmer.
If you are trying to do this in place, there is often no room for the guide plate on a router. You can put a laminate trimming bit into a drywall hole cutter - small router-like tool for carving out electrical outlets in drywall. It has a smaller guide. Watch for the torque, it can spin out of control easily.
In the end, do what areas the router/trimmer can reach then you're pretty much stuck trimming by hand - cut as close as you can with a laminate knife - and slowly file the rest away for a clean edge.
There is always the dremel tool. It is smaller less torque than a trim router and it has a bazillion attachments - including small drum sander attachments. I replaced port Lites on my O'Day 27 this spring. Plywood substrate was in ok condition around the opening. I stiffened it with some west system and clamps. I then cleaned up the opening with the dremel and small drum sander attachment.
You don't say how large an area you are replacing with laminate or how much substrate you need to replace.
As we all know working on the inside of your boat is like throwing every tool you own and all the material you believe you need or can afford into the trunk of a small car climbing inside, closing the lid and having at it.
Regarding port lites I can't say enough great things about New Found Metals.
thanks for the replies. I've been trying to cut cardboard out as a template
but still can't get it right. Its a bigger project then I thought. Its gonna take more work. I do have a dremel, thou. I feel better knowing others have cursed this job.
I'd agree with the recommendations for laminate trimmer, router, or dremel for the cleanest edge.
one more trick with laminate -- after contact cementing in place, you want to weight it down all over while the cement thoroughly dries, like overnight. If you're glueing it together before installation, this should be fairly straightforward, using stacks of books or cans. If the piece is in place, you may need to get more creative with clamps, rods, etc.
(We had a kitchen design/remodel business which we sold for the $$ for our cruising kitty. And the carpentry skills are still pretty good for barter, now...)
(We had a kitchen design/remodel business which we sold for the $$ for our cruising kitty. And the carpentry skills are still pretty good for barter, now...)
There are also router jigs for the Dremel that sometimes make it easier to use. I think RotoTool and ZipTool are also brand names for small routers for this type of job.
If you can't get the old laminate/veneer off, it may help to buy some heavy kraft paper (sold in hardware stores, roofing paper, flooring paper, etc.) and lightly tack it in place. Mark it, then lay it down flat and trim it until it has the right shape, going abck and forth in position. Once the shape is right, you've got a template to work on flat laminate with.
If you can make a heavy paper template for the whole panel, and then transfer that to the laminate, you may be able to get away with only needing the final sanding once it is glued up.
Of course, the opposite is also possible...that you would have priced yourselves out of the market and business...and not be able to afford a boat and wouldn't be out cruising..but still trying to make the money needed to buy the boat.
Do yourself a favor and buy a laminate trimmer kit with extra bases. There are offset bases that will allow you to get into tight corners that would be a big help here. Also, in order to save your lungs buy some Fastbond 30 contact cement by 3M. It is expensive but works very well and is odorless. It is all I use for laminate work (custom cabinetmaker).
Also, in order to save your lungs buy some Fastbond 30 contact cement by 3M. It is expensive but works very well and is odorless. It is all I use for laminate work (custom cabinetmaker).
Steve - Is this a relatively new product (within the last 5 years or so since we sold out)? Hadn't heard of it. It would be cool not to need a respirator for this kind of work. Otherwise, suggestion to chuckg5, especially if you end up gluing indoors where ventilation isn't possible, get a *real* respirator, NOT the paper masks, with organics cartridges. (You can get them at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc) When you start being able to smell solvent thru the respirator its time to change the cartridges...
I'd have to agree..the VOCs from the contact cement can cause serious health problems...and sniffing the glue fumes is a good way to end up brain-dead. Check to make sure the organics cartridge is designed for whatever solvent/adhesive you are using and get a couple of spares. Last thing you want to do is end up having to run to the store to get them just as your on the final stretch.
I don't know how long Fastbond 30 has been on the market. It is a water based cement. Now before everyone starts flaming me about a water based product please keep in mind that water is used as the carrier for the solvent and the cement is not water soluble after it cures. Fastbond is quite a bit more expensive than regular contact cement and it takes a while to dry (the 30 in the name is suggestive ) so I use a heat gun to speed things along. Those two factors are slowing its' acceptance in the market but since I don't have to use a respirator and I don't have to evacuate a building I think it is worth it.
Last I checked, many paints are water-based, and yet work perfectly well at protecting houses from the rain... The fact that FastBond 30 doesn't help contribute to smog is a good thing too... the VOCs that are released from most contact cements are more than equal to the pollution from driving a car for a long period of time.
Good to know about this. Must be a reformulation and its exciting they've been able to make it work. Formica tried to make a 'green' water based low VOC contact cement once before, maybe early 90's (?) but the glues didn't hold up well over time. We got a lot of callbacks. Kinda gave up on it. We're relaminating parts of our interior this spring, will be investigating kinder gentler glues!
Eryka-
3M's "one call gets it all" 800# can tell you how long that product has been out. 1-800-364-3577 and if they don't know they'll connect you to someone who does.
I've used water-based contact cements for nearly a decade. Can't say I'm certain they are as good in every way, but they certainly have made progress.
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