solid surface

[gene]

Does anyone have any experience with formica brand solid surface materials? Does it cut with regular carbide bits ? How hard is it to router the edges ? ect. DO's and DONT"S

[Brady Watson]

Formica has several documents regarding their solid surface, such as this Fabrication Guide

-B

[gene]

I read that the other day and it seems pretty straight forward . I have a small kitchen that the customer wants their solid surface and there are only 4 straight runs involved . mainly just looking for tips

[genek]

Gene Solid surface will route, saw, turn in a lathe just like wood. on routing take several passes less chance of gumming up your bit. sanding i use 120 then work up to 600 grit then buff ..

[Ajcoholic]

Does anyone have any experience with formica brand solid surface materials? Does it cut with regular carbide bits ? How hard is it to router the edges ? ect. DO's and DONT"S

That is the brand I have been using for about 20 years. It used to be called "Surrel" (at least here in Canada).

It works the exact same as Corian or any other SS product. Carbide tooling is necessary and doesnt stay sharp for long (plan on a bit per job before change out). I use a good TC grind saw blade for cutting on the saw.

[Ajcoholic]

Gene Solid surface will route, saw, turn in a lathe just like wood. on routing take several passes less chance of gumming up your bit. sanding i use 120 then work up to 600 grit then buff ..

"just like wood" is not quite correct... Solid surfacing is very hard, brittle and somewhat abrasive. Yes, you work it similarly to wood - but it doesnt "work" like wood. It is homogenous, so there is no grain. A router will run without trying to follow the grain. But it takes more force to feed, and feed speeds are slower. Also it is much harder on tooling - you will notice blades and bits dull quite fast VS wood. I do quite a bit of counter fabrication in SS - I generally send blades away after one job for sharpening and bits get replaced when the force to feed gets noticeably harder.

The biggest thing with SS I would say is the prep for gluing. The edges MUST be properly prepared (abraded, cleaned) or you can have joint failure. It is not hard to do, just have to follow the rules so to speak. REad the fabricators guide. Also, installations are important - the material moves with changes in temp and has to be properly installed.