Laminate floor question

[Wooden Skye]

I am going to be installing laminate floor in my attic, I have the flooring and it has the pad already attached.  So here is my question, when cutting, what tooth blade should I use in both my miter saw and table saw?  Do I need any special blade for my multi tool, cause I may need to make some notched cuts to go around things?

 

[stvrowe]

Use a fine tooth triple chip grind blade for the best quality cut on either.  For a multi-tool, I just use a standard blade and end up throwing it away at the end of such a project.  A bi-metal blade would probably last longer but comes at a higher cost.

Must be a fancy attic [big grin]

 

[tjbnwi]

Try and avoid using the multi tool. Laminate flooring eats blades. Cheep jig saw blades are your best beat. Any miter/circular saw blade will need to be sharpened after about 2 cuts.

See if you can rent a laminate flooring guillotine.

Tom

 

[galwaydude18@gmail.com]

Just use a jig saw. That's what I always use to cut laminate flooring

 

[Wooden Skye]

Use a fine tooth triple chip grind blade for the best quality cut on either.  For a multi-tool, I just use a standard blade and end up throwing it away at the end of such a project.  A bi-metal blade would probably last longer but comes at a higher cost.

Must be a fancy attic [big grin]

Thanks for the response. Not that fancy.  It is more like a third floor, basically we are setting it up for my son to play and I have my home office up there.

 

[Wooden Skye]

Try and avoid using the multi tool. Laminate flooring eats blades. Cheep jig saw blades are your best beat. Any miter/circular saw blade will need to be sharpened after about 2 cuts.

See if you can rent a laminate flooring guillotine.

Tom

Thanks Tom.

I will skip the multi tool and stick with the jig saw.  For jig saw blades, what tpi would be best?  I am going to buy some cheap blades instead of using my Festool ones.

 

[Walk On Wood]

I used to install a tremendous amount of laminate for the company I started out with.  I use a table saw with a cheap 7 1/4" framing blade for all cuts, then throw the blade away after.  A jigsaw w a cheap blade works well too if you're not comfortable cross cutting on a table saw

 

[Alan m]

for the first few jobs I did  I used my chop saw and table saw.
after about 3 or 4  average floors both blades were knackered and needed replacing .
from then on I only use my jig saw
you can cut any angle with the jig saw and do your rip cuts. using the chop saw would be a lot slower.

 

[Wooden Skye]

After reading some advise, I am going to you my jig saw for all my cross cuts.  If I need to rip, I will use my table saw and buy some 7 1/4" blades that I won't care if they are ruined by the end of this project.  I am assuming that a higher tooth blade is best for both jig and table saw, and if I need to will tape the cut line with masking tape.

 

[pjcoop]

Bosch make some jig saw blades made for laminate flooring. I use them all the time now. You can use your jig saw for the whole floor including rip cuts, saves on blades. All your cuts are hidden by baseboard or threshold moulding so the do not have to be perfect and I have not come across a square room yet, walls are always out.

 

[tjbnwi]

Try and avoid using the multi tool. Laminate flooring eats blades. Cheep jig saw blades are your best beat. Any miter/circular saw blade will need to be sharpened after about 2 cuts.

See if you can rent a laminate flooring guillotine.

Tom

I use metal cutting blades, low to mid speed.

The Home Depot near me rents this (I'd own one if I did a lot of laminate floor);

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Roberts-13-in-Wide-Pro-Laminate-Engineered-Wood-and-Vinyl-Flooring-Cutter-10-64/203526690

Tom
Thanks Tom.

I will skip the multi tool and stick with the jig saw.  For jig saw blades, what tpi would be best?  I am going to buy some cheap blades instead of using my Festool ones.

 

[Floorman70]

I lay a lot of laminate,i use a magnum shear(i`ve got a 13" one,which is great but quite expensive and heavy to carry around,so i now use the 9" which is really light and only cost about £130),i use a jigsaw for long cuts and a hacksaw for notching round pipes,as it has a thin blade,doesn`t chip the laminate and can easily cut at an angle so your cut out piece can sit on top

 

[MGB]

I'm not sure why you're concerned with cut quality?

Laminate requires room to move, so door jambs/baseboard/transitions all have to sit on top of the floor. Your cut will always be hidden, except for perhaps a flush stair nosing.

Maybe I'm just missing something being that its going in an attic.