solid surface kitchen worktops uk

[fin]

hi all, ive got a job coming up fitting a homebase kitchen...

its got minerva solid surface worktops. so this is a job ive not done before. ive watched the youtube videos on the minerva worktops website. for the sanding and polishing of the joints they use a festool rotex 150 sander from what i could tell.

i own a ro90 and an ets 150. so..... what are the advantages of the rotex 150 sander over what i already own? would the 150 be a better machine to use over the ro90? also what extras might i need to buy that arent included in either the ro90 or ro150 should i decide to buy one?

minervaworksurfaces.co.uk

cheers all

 

[Peter_C]

In the USA Corian is a common brand and what I am used to working with, and one of my favorite materials. I bought my RO150 for working with solid surface. It is not needed if one already has something like an ETS 150, UNLESS you are going to be polishing, then the RO150 rules. I also use the thick interference pad for sanding things like round overs. A hard pad is best for keeping the material surface flat. What is the final sanding grit going to be?

The RO90 is often used by me, but not so much on counter tops.

How you do your backsplash, with or without coves, determines how you will be sanding. After hand sanding coves for a rather large kitchen I bought a LS130 sander.

Maybe this 10 page tutorial is handy for you...https://www.solidsurface.com/countertop-fundamentals/templating-and-sheet-layout

 

[AlexThePalex]

I think that if you have a RO90 and an ETS150, you don't need to invest in a RO150. What you have can do the job just fine.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I have never seen or heard of Minerva, but have used all of the various brands available in the US market at one time or another. However this is in a commercial setting where time is money, so tool selection follows that thought.
I have an really like an RO90, but would only use it on edges of a Solid Surface top. It's just too small for larger areas.
I use a dedicated router with "skis" on the base to level the glue squeeze -out, then an 8" gear driven orbital sander to flatten the area around any kind of deck seams. (Ingersol Rand 328B) This is with 80 to 120 grit, depending upon how much leveling there is to do.
After that I would step up to an 11" finishing sander. It is a real random orbit d/a type sander, rather than the geared type. This is the final finish sander. It will get used up to the highest grit needed, which depends upon the color or specified sheen from the customer, unless polishing to a higher gloss. At that point things change again.
This is all in a shop environment with downdraft dust collection. It is not as good as collection right at the tool, but it works over larger areas and with multiple people sanding at the same time.
In the field, where someone might have to seam larger pieces together, this would be done with a RO150 and a CT26.
All of that to say, for a one-time job, you are farther ahead than many people just for having the RO90 and the ETS150. In a high volume situation, you would see the limitation fairly quickly, but you will be fine.

 

[fin]

not sure why the link i posted doesnt appear to work for me. on that website they have either ro125 or ro150 sanders...

would an ets 150 do a decent task on these worktops? i could quite easily cover say half the cost of the machine in my price for the job. so getting the ro150 for say £250 if this machine will make a big difference to the job.

plus new festool day is always good i guess

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Hi mate,

You’ll be good with what you already have. The real key to a decent-looking job is near-perfect joint alignment before you apply your adhesive and seam up. Also - spatula off as much of the acrylic squeeze-out as you can, thereby giving yourself way less sanding and finishing to do once everything's set and solid. You don't really want any more than half a mm of adhesive sitting proud of the surface. You'll normally align the two joint halves using plastic biscuits, but I'd suggest that you also invest in a set of solid-surface seaming clamps if you’re likely to be doing more jobs like this. I have two sets of Besseys at £500 a pop, but to start with (or even for just this one job), these cheapo ones will get it done;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trintion-W...8Th91O71QigdWWdUU&dib_tag=se&keywords=suction+clamps&qid=1712593691&sr=8-4

If you're unfamiliar with these gadgets, here's a Bessey video which shows you what they do;
=2s

Also - head over to the Worktop Express website - they do a good Unika solid-surface installation kit which contains all the grits and other products you’re likely to need;
https://www.worktop-express.co.uk/unika-solid-surface-acrylic-worktop-installation-kit/

If it’s a Homebase kitchen, expect it to have been ‘designed’ by a child and have bits missing. Hope it goes well.

Kevin

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Just noticed that the OP hasn’t been active since 2021. How does this happen? No posts for three years and then it just reappears ….

 

[squall_line]

Just noticed that the OP hasn’t been active since 2021. How does this happen? No posts for three years and then it just reappears ….

My guess is that a spammer bumped it from the dead with a new post around the same time you happened to be going through looking at the forum, but a Mod got to the spam in the interim.  That's how I usually notice old threads coming back from the dead, at least.

 

[Peter Kelly]

Spammer was from a Chinese solid surface manufacturer. Noticed it right after Kevin posted his response.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I wondered what was going on, when I saw this last night. I didn't think Kevin was digging through old threads to dig this up?