Festool Tools for working with Solid Surface Countertops

[Brian Livingstone]

Hi,

I am thinking about buying a sheet of Formica solid surface countertop material and giving a go at making my own countertops.  I assume I can cut the material with my TS55, and use my OF1400 to route a profile, and use my sanders to sand the product.

Does anyone have experience in using Festool with solid surface material.  What do you recommend for a blade, router bits, and abrasives. 

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Brian

 

[randyh]

I have made several desktops and countertops using Formica sheets from Lowe's, laminated to particle board. I used the combo blade on my TS55 and a regular flush trim bit on my OF1400 with excellent results. So far I have always attached hardwood edging using the Domino so nothing exotic there.

 

[Sparktrician]

Brian, you already have a decent selection of Festool goodies that will work well for solid surface material.  The standard TS 55 blade works well, but the Solid Surface / Laminate 48-Tooth Saw Blade (496309) will likely work better.  Either the RO 125 or RO 150 will do very well for surface polishing when using Granat and Platin (for the higher gloss finishes).  The Festool buffing and polishing compounds will bring out a high-gloss finish quite well.  Be aware that there are specific techniques for using the abrasives to get the finish you want.  Most any good router bit will help you get the profile you want.  I like Festool, Whiteside and Amana router bits.  When you get into fabrication and joining multiple sheets of solid surface material, you'll need some Bessey PS-55 clamps to hold the pieces together as the adhesive sets up.  You can't have too many spring clamps that will span 2".  I strongly recommend taking Festool's Solid Surface class with Steve Bace in Henderson, NV, if you get the opportunity.  Steve has almost 30 years of experience with it and his class is well worth the money. 

 

[ccarrolladams]

Are you planning to laminate countertops or do solid surface fabrication?

During the Solid Surface Fabrication class taught by Steve Base at the Festool Henderson, NV facility we used the plastic Aluminum blade to saw the solid surface material. Generally that is sold about 12mm thick, so a TS55 has more than enough power.

In the class I used the OF2200 because that is my go-to router for most edge treatment. Perhaps an OF1400 would also have worked, but solid surface material is best worked with a minimum of vibration. My experience is the OF2200 vibrates less than the OF1400.

When I took the Solid Surface class in early 2011 the RO90DX had not yet been released in the USA, but we did try them. We also used the ETS150/3. Generally you want to use a hard pad with solid surface and back then the RO90DX hard pads were on back-order.

The practical problem starting to fabricate solid surface is obtaining the material and glue at wholesale without being franchised, trained and approved by the manufacturer. The glue needs to exactly match the material.

Also, a lot of specialized equipment is needed.

Good luck

 

[jonny round boy]

Brian,

I've used my Festools for fabricating acrylic solid surface.

As far as the TS55 goes, if you're doing quite a bit you want the 48 tooth 496308 'special' saw blade. If you're just doing a few cuts you can get acceptable results with the standard 48 tooth blade, but it will dull quicker. With either blade, turn the speed down to 2 or 3.

For routing solid surface, any good quality bits will do, but they need to be sharp. You can buy special cutters for solid surface work, but it's really not economical unless you're doing it day in, day out. As with the saw, turn the speed down.

For sanding, the best sander to use is the ETS150/3. You can also use the RO150 but the ETS can be used one-handed, which is a definite advantage with solid surface as you will be doing a LOT of sanding. If you intend to go to a high gloss finish (really, don't do it!) then you'll need the Rotex. Whichever sander you use, you'll need the hard sanding pad for best results.

Grit wise, most sheet materials are factory sanded to about 180 grit. This is generally your starting point. If you have seams & adhesive to sand down, you can start at 120 grit, but go carefully. Go up the grits as far as necessary to get the finish you want. I generally start with 180 and then go to 320. After that, a Scotchbrite-type pad will get you a good semi-matt finish.

I don't tend to use Festool pads for solid surface (only because I have stock of some other brands) so can't personally recommend abrasive types, but there's a PDF document HERE that has more info on grits & abrasive types. It's for Corian, but the same applies to any other brand of acrylic solid surface.

Hope that helps.

I posted a while ago about my solid surface shower tray project, you might find some of that useful.

Jonathan

 

[greg mann]

When I think of Formica I usually am thinking a laminate sheet to be glued to a substrate. I don't think of this as a solid surface but as a laminated countertop. Ccarrol sort of asked this but I don't think we really know which the OP is referring to. If it is a laminate I would suggest the possibility of cutting it oversize with snipper-like tools designed specifically for the task and then using a trim router with the appropriate bit to flush trim. Save the saw for a different task, IMO. I have heard some complaints about specific laminates being exceptionally hard on saw blades, and even router bits, so I have avoided usign my TS55 for cutting them. That said, I have done only a few laminated tops so I could be operating under imperfect knowledge. Others here can comment on how hard the material is on their sawblades and what kind of chipout or other issues they deal with.

If Formica makes a true solid surface material I am unaware of it but, hey, there are a lot of things I don't know so I am prepared to be enlightened. Either way I think laminates and solid surfaces are two different animals in terms of technique. From here on in this thread I will be a reader rather than a writer and look forward to coming out a more informed one.  ;D

 

[rvieceli]

Formica brand does indeed make a solid surface product. I think it is similar to Corian. Here is a link to a page at Formica US with tons of technical docs available covering just about everything you might want to know about it.

http://www.formica.com/en/us/products/solid-surfacing?pt=1