Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Quick Question-Cutting Laminate/Formica

Recently installed a wet bar in basement. Purchased pre-made side splash that will rest against a pantry cabinet. The side splash is about 1.25" too long. What is the best wat to cut it? I will probabably use a jig (Skil) saw. Do I need to cut it with formica side down?

Ideally you would cut it on a power miter saw. with the splash face down and the top of the splash toward you.

But if you intend to uses a jig saw, you should be using a plywood blade up-cut (teeth up) then put the laminate side down and cut into the top of the splash first.

If you intend to uses a jig saw, and if your are using a plywood blade down cut ( teeth down) then put the laminate side up and cut into the top of the splash first.


Measure twice - Cut once

Should I use a fine tooth blade or coarse?

The fine tooth blade is probably better it will give a cleaner cut.

The way to cut laminate cleanly is to insure that the cut happens on the down stroke (assuming the laminate is facing up). Your typical jigsaw blade cuts on the up stroke, which has the advantage of pulling the saw down and keeping it tight to the work piece, but this promotes chipping in laminate. As such, they sell "laminate" jigsaw blades. The difference is obvious by looking at the teeth.

You can also cut pre-made counters (mdf + laminate) with router bits. A table or miter saw would work too, just make sure the blade teeth sink into the laminate face, not the back. The closer to 90 degrees the angle the better. This is one case where you would raise the table saw blade much higher than the thickness of the material to be cut.

good luck,
JP