kitchen unit floor plinths

[mart]

Just had a new kitchen fitted, and afterwards fitted a laminate wooden floor myself. I removed the removable kitchen floor plints and ran the laminate flooring underneath the units rather than cutting the laminate around the plinths. the problem is that now the floor has been raised the plinths will not fit back. The plinths need to be cut down but they are made of mdf with a laminated finish over them. The area to be removed is too big to be rasped down, and i've been told that it cannot be planed as there is no wood grain. I've just taken the plinths to a local wood shop intending to have them cut down with a circular saw but they say that it could cause the laminated finsih on the plinths to crack or break. Is this right and if so is there another way to cut the plinths down to size.

 

[breezer]

try a hand saw with fine teeth. yes as it is laminated a circular saw often rips so yes it will damage the laminate.


other thing buy some more laminated sheets (old off cuts will do just to try) put them face to face clamp them together and then cut them

just a thought

 

[masona]

A fine handsaw as breezer's said or a fine tooth saw bench or jig-saw with a special blade that the teeth pointed downward but you will have to hold the jig-saw firmly or it will jump and cut the top of the plinth and not the bottom so it won't noticed.

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

I was always told to mark the cut line all round accurately then score the laminated side with a decent stanley blade then cut from underneath, 9 out of 10 times works fine with either circular or jig saw.

 

[alexnic]

I have cut laminated kitchen worktops, plinths etc with a circular saw no problem. As long ast the good side that is seen is on the bottom when cutting, any rough edge caused by the saw will be on the top ie the side of the plinth that will be against the unit, the front edge will be perfect.

 

[MrHelpfull]

a good hand saw, laminate side up will do this fine.

I find it is better to put a bit more effort in and use a hand saw is much better that a power tool on laminated board. I have always been fine with a standard contractors saw. A fine toothed saw will possibly reduce the risk of chipping further but will take longer, personally a new or good condution saw can give a perfect edge.

If you do use a cycular saw you will need to cut face down, putting two together will not prevent it from chipping.

Note; Hand saw cuts downwards, and a cyclular saw cuts upwards!.