Hi all, refugee from Cooks Talk here with a problem I hope you can help me with.
I’m helping a friend build a kitchen for his cottage… well, actually I’m building the kitchen in my shop, and he comes and gives me a hand when he has time. It will pay off in dinners, cottage time and sailing!
Anyway, he acquired some very heavy laminate from a bus company, a full 1/8″ thick, but he didn’t get enough contact cement to put two coats on both surfaces, which is my usual practise. So, you guessed it, the laminate is lifting at the front edge. The front edge of the top is solid ash, and that may be contributing to the adhesion problem.
My standard fix for this would be to pry up as much of the laminate as possible along the edge and apply more contact cement, but I’m a little worried that the ash may be the problem and that might not work. It’s also a big pain in the a$$.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
ADAM’S APPLE, n.
A protuberance in the throat of man, thoughtfully provided by Nature to keep the rope in place.
Ambrose Bierce – The Devil’s Dictionary
Replies
use yellow wood glue and lots of clamps.
Thought of that. Would it adhere through the layer of contact cement that's already there?
ADAM'S APPLE, n.A protuberance in the throat of man, thoughtfully provided by Nature to keep the rope in place. Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
Restuck the thing last night with "Super T", a cyanoacrylate from Lee Valley. It worked! Thanks everybody - I appreciate the help.
ADAM'S APPLE, n.A protuberance in the throat of man, thoughtfully provided by Nature to keep the rope in place. Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
Cyanoacrylate or super glue...will do it in a jiffy. 3M Pronto has differing viscosities...I'd opt for the medium set time. Moisture hastens the kick time, as does the "zip kicker" accelerant. Beian as it is a lam ct, you probly wont need or be able to use the zip kick. Just apply it and mist with water, cover with wax paper ( all kitchens oughtta have that) and clamp.
When a bananna is consumed, unclamp, and dress up with a file..followed by another pc of fruit from the counter, and 220 grt sandy type paper.
Some clear nail polish ( on the counter, silly) will mask your repairs.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"We adore chaos, because we love to restore order"
Mauriets Chavailier Escher
Thanks Sphere! I'll head for Lee Valley for the neccessary on Monday and let you know how it turns out.
ADAM'S APPLE, n.A protuberance in the throat of man, thoughtfully provided by Nature to keep the rope in place. Ambrose Bierce - The Devil's Dictionary
before you go applying a new glue on this countertop, get an old contact lens cleaner solution bottle, or some other bottle that has a small aperature. Fill this with lacquer thinner, raise the separated sheet as high as you can without breaking anything, squirt the lacquer thinner in the space. This will reactivate the contact cement, even the water base stuff, let it dry and pull out the props and put pressure on the top.Should reglue itself. Otherwise try an iron at high heat over a brown grocery bag, this too will reactivate the glue and it should press down and stay.If those don't work, then try an experiment. Good Luck
john
Jwinko offers good advice, but makes a potentially disasterous omission. Laquer thinner is extremely flammable. Have a fire extinguisher on hand, a telephone, and ventilate the building throughly before trying his suggestions. Oh, turn off the hot water tank pilot, just for good measure.
A buddy of mine destroyed his sailboat, on a trailer next to his house, and damn near set his house on fire, with thinner on a countertop.
Use an iron to heat the thing up and release the glue. Work back slowly away from the delaminated edge. It's real handy if you have someone to help peel it up while you keep the iron moving.
Get the whole sheet off and re-glue it and the bare top - two thin coats a few minutes apart is best. Re-applying the laminate in exactly the right place will be tricky. Use several thin wood slats so that the laminate is laid over the countertop but not actually touching until you are ready. Start by maneuvering the sheet right tight against the wall and stick that down first, then work outward, removing slats as you go.
Or - take the opportunity for a facelift and apply new laminate altogether!
Old slats from a ventian blind are also a good support.
Old ,blind, Venetian sl*ts?!!!!!!!!!"If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
I don't mean to give you the "royal runaround," but you may ask at "Knots" (for woodworkers) about ash repelling glue--I would understand maybe on an oily wood like teak, but ash is a fairly "normal" wood.
Edited 10/18/2005 8:17 am ET by Danno