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Spring Clamps and Cutting Laminate Web extra spring clamps and laminate tips. From "Freeform Furniture" episode DFFF-113

Host Amy Devers shares tips on cutting laminate and spring clamps.

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Amy shares tips on cutting laminate.

Cutting Laminate

• Sheets of laminate are available in a wide variety of sizes, colors and patterns.
  
• Use a circular saw when cutting laminate. A jigsaw will also work, but the jigsaw blade is less likely to produce a straight line. Before cutting the laminate, lay masking tape over the cutting line. This will protect the surface and also help prevent chipping. Apply a few more strips of tape on the laminate where the saw base will travel because it can scratch the laminate.
  
• It is helpful to use a guide to make sure the laminate is cut straight. Use the fence of the circular saw to guide your cut. The T-shaped fence slides into the base of the saw. If you don't have a fence for the saw, or if the cut you are making is too far from the edge of the material, make a guide for your saw using a piece of straight wood or a metal ruler. Clamp the laminate down and be careful to follow the line and exert minimal force on the guide. If you do veer off the line slightly, you can clean it up with a sander or a sanding block.
  
• The blade for your circular saw should have a thin kerf carbide blade with at least 40 teeth. The "kerf" is the width of the slot that a saw blade leaves when cutting through a material. Thinner saw blades produce a smoother and straighter cut.
  
• Cut slowly and with steady movement. You might want to make a practice cut first to get the feel of the saw cutting the laminate.

• Laminates, whether plastic or wood, can easily pull and chip when cut. Most saw blades cut on the upstroke which can cause this pulling and chipping. To prevent this, you can use a special reverse-cut saw blade. The teeth on these special blades point downward instead of upward. You can find these types of blades at most hardware and home improvement stores.

• The best way to trim off excess laminate is to use a laminate trimmer. The laminate trimmer works much like a hand-held router. Ride the bearing and the bit just along the edge of the laminate.

• If sanding the edge is necessary, use 220-grit sandpaper on a sanding block and run it along the cut edge of the laminate at a 45 degree angle, smoothing and slightly rounding it. This should visually eliminate any minor chipping that may have occurred and also eliminate the razor-sharp edge that laminate can get after it is cut.

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