Solid Wood Kitchen Worktops Butted?

[finster]

Hi all,

I have a question about joining kitchen worktops (I realize that there are a few on here!)

I have some Ikea solid wood worktops: -

The chap I had lined up to do the work has let me down so I'm thinking about having a go myself.

I'm trying to work out what the best way is to join these at the corner. I'm considering buying a router & jig to do a mason mitre joint as described on this excellent page http://www.raygirling.com/wtjig.htm

However it occured to me that as the edges of the worktops are square (albeit bevelled), I might get away with them butted against each other.

I also saw another method here //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=72146 (second post) but don't really understand it.

Does anybody have any advice / experience to share????

Many Thanks.

 

[Jasonb]

As the Ikea ones have about a 3mm roundover you will need to use a form of masons mitre. It does not need the 45degree part to be any longet than the 3mm roundover.

It can be cut using a router and straight edge and the 45deg part squared up with a decent chisel or you can off set a standard WT jig to get the same results.

Jason

 

[finster]

Many thanks for the reply.

Thinking about it, one of the worktops (the male one) will have to be cut to size anyway so do you think I would get away with cutting the joining edge with a circular saw (screwing batons to the underside first for straightness)?

Is it fairly straightforward to trim 3mm (the bevel) off the female section with a router without a jig?

Thanks.

 

[finster]

How about an electric plane for trimming off the bevel on the female section? Or is that just silly

 

[Scrit]

Thinking about it, one of the worktops (the male one) will have to be cut to size anyway so do you think I would get away with cutting the joining edge with a circular saw (screwing batons to the underside first for straightness)?

You can certainly make the cut that way, but watch out for the corner not being square. My experience is that most houses aren't square, so neither will your joints be

Is it fairly straightforward to trim 3mm (the bevel) off the female section with a router without a jig?

Yes, providing your router is heavy enough for the cut, which you'll have to do in steps. After making the cut it will be necessary to clean-up the end of the cut and the leading edge of the other section of worktop with a chisel. What size of router do you have?

How about an electric plane for trimming off the bevel on the female section? Or is that just silly

It would work, but you might not be able to cut a consistently square/straight recess that way (it takes practice) - and you'll still need to finish off with a chisel in any case

Scrit

 

[finster]

Thanks for the reply.

You can certainly make the cut that way, but watch out for the corner not being square. My experience is that most houses aren't square, so neither will your joints be

I can see what you mean, but the instructions that I have seen for doing a mason-mitre don't seem to mention marking any angles. In fact the articles I have seen say that this type of joint is easier than a proper mitre because angles don't have to be measured which doesn't make sense to me - surely there would be a gap in an unsquare corner for the mason-mitre too if just using the jig with the pegs in?

What size of router do you have?

Don't have one yet which is why I'm thinking of crazy ideas with circular saws and electric planes.

I think buying a router is probably my best bet (something like this . So would you advise a worktop jig too or do you think I can get away with using a baton or something similar?

Thanks again for the advice....

 

[Scrit]

I can see what you mean, but the instructions that I have seen for doing a mason-mitre don't seem to mention marking any angles. In fact the articles I have seen say that this type of joint is easier than a proper mitre because angles don't have to be measured which doesn't make sense to me - surely there would be a gap in an unsquare corner for the mason-mitre too if just using the jig with the pegs in?

The jig will automatically produce a square joint if you just use the pegs, however as kitchen corners are rarely square we often have to cant the male part of the joint a degree or two to get a good fit. The manufacturer's instructions all omit that part as it's a bit awkward for them to explain.....

What size of router do you have?

Don't have one yet which is why I'm thinking of crazy ideas with circular saws and electric planes.

I wouldn't even think about trying to plane the end of a worktop with a power planer - for starters it's end grain and you risk breaking out and secondly you'll never manage it accurately, believe me. I do this sort of job as a part of my living and I wouldn't tackle it that way - too great a risk of cock-ups. If you don't have a router the job can be done with a hand saw, a jack plane, a bull-nose plane and hand chisels but you really need the plane to be well sharpened and the mouth set fine, all your tools need to be sharpened and most importantly you'll need to know how to use your tools, so overall a 3 HP router and a batten makes a lot more sense if you're not a regular tool user. For solid wood I've always regarded the worktop jig as complete overkill. After all you're only doing a butt joint with a 600mm long small recessed bit and a couple of tiny chamfers. Strikes me that I've probably spent as much time writing this as it would have taken me to do the job

Scrit

 

[finster]

Thanks again.

I've done the straight sections on the other side of my kitchen today with a circular saw - I bought one of those straight-edge clamp things today and it's turned out very well.

Anyway - back to the corner join... I'm going to get a basic router. Can you buy jigs for doing the recesses for the bolts (I haven't seen any), or do you have to buy a worktop jig anyway (as we've decided I don't really need one because I can do a straight edge...

Strikes me that I've probably spent as much time writing this as it would have taken me to do the job

You're probably right, but you've been a great help and at least I've not screwed up and had to buy new worktops (yet!)

Cheers.

 

[Scrit]

Anyway - back to the corner join... I'm going to get a basic router. Can you buy jigs for doing the recesses for the bolts (I haven't seen any), or do you have to buy a worktop jig anyway (as we've decided I don't really need one because I can do a straight edge...)

You can make-up your own jig from a piece of hardboard using a jig saw if you want to, or use a router and worktop jig. I've even done the joints a couple of times by drilling-out a hole with a hole saw (44mm I think, although offering up a joiner to the hole saw would soon tell you), chopping-out with a chisel and mallet then sawing two parallel lines with a back saw from the circle to the edge and cleaning-out the groove from the outside in with a chisel and mallet again. Just make sure that your chisels are sharp, and you really do need a mallet (or a dead blow hammer, plastic head hammer, hide hammer) for this

Scrit

 

[finster]

Cheers for all of the advice Scrit,

Just to finish this off for future reference, I've ordered a cheap jig off ebay for the bolt recesses with a view to selling it on later...