Kitchen remodel

leiona

After much headache and calling around, I finally got my countertops!! unfinished maple butcherblock, a 12 foot length and a 8 foot length for 661.00 total from Lumber Liquidators...Whew glad to be done with that.
Jim i tried your link and called them, they put me on hold and never came back...finally i decided to just go with the obvious flow and order from Lumber Liquidators, the cheapest by far. And believe it or not, I did call 4 more local sawmills here in my area..not one carried maple planks. So strange seeing as how i am totally surrounded by maple trees here! in fact I've cut some huge ones down in my yard just this year. If only I had coco's alaskan sawmill lol
BTW thank you for the advice with the sanders, i needed that.

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BigJim

I'm sorry the people kept you on hold and didn't come back, they must have all the business they want.

The counter top you have has been sanded on a drum sander so you will not need to sand with a course grit. When sanding I would start with 100-120 grit and go finer. Your top shouldn't need much sanding, the ROS should work just fine on it.

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Jim

leiona

The countertops will be here in 12 days...meanwhile i must build the cabinet, build the base for my island and I'm STILL waiting for my handyman electrician to show up and move plugs...that's why I haven't gotten anything done...besides the fact that I've been snowed in for 5 days with no materials lol..but he's supposed to be here tomorrow then its on with it, finally!

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leiona

Electrician came today, got half the electric done!!! I bought three sheets of 3/4 inch birch plywood to make my cabinets..and boy that stuff is not cheap!

I plan on making my cabinet doors with an inlay of colored or stained glass, or possibly wavy glass if i can find it. if thats not possible i may inlay a mirror or stainless steel sheeting.i cant wait to get them started.

When the countertop shows up i will have to miter the corner and i was wondering if anyone knows with which saw i would do that...i'm pretty sure its a jigsaw for the sinkhole, though, maybe that would work for the miter too?

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BigJim

Did you order your counter top from a top shop or cabinet shop? If you did maybe they can cut your top for you. The sink hole shouldn't be too much of a problem but cutting a 45° on a top is a challenge even for an experienced cabinet without the proper machine. It has to be cut perfect so it won't have any gaps in the miter and with regular hand tools it is tough. Also you will need a router to cut in the fasteners for the miter. I would strongly advise getting a shop to cut the mortise for you.

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Jim

fixrite

before you go off trying to miter your ends, you will need to know if your corner is square so you don't cut the wrong miter for your countertops. The jigsaw with the right blade will be fine for cutting out your sink, just don't be in a rush, and get someone to support the cutout piece near the end of the cut.

fixrite

when it comes time to cut your mitres, if you can't find a local company with a radial arm saw, then you will need to clamp a board at the correct angle to guide your circular saw for your mitres.

BigJim

The way I do my sink cut out is leave about a 2 inches uncut at each end of the sink hole. Take two scraps of wood long enough to go all the way across the sink hole and overlap onto the top. Screw the two scraps of wood into the cutout, this will keep the cutout from dropping on through.

Before marking out for the cutout, measure the flange on the underside of the sink, (the part that holds the fasteners to hold the sink in) Mark the hole out just big enough for the flange to fit into the cutout. Be sure to round the corners of the cutout or you will have holes at each corner of the sink.

To be sure you have the hole marked out correctly do this, mark the hole as you are going to cut out, then lay the sink upside down on the marked out area, if you can see any marks with the sink laying on top of the marks then you have it marked out wrong and if cut like that the cuts will come on the outside of the sink and your top will be ruined and the only thing you can do then is buy a larger sink. I hope I am explaining this where you can understand, I am not good at explaining.

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Jim

Ironlight

I totally agree.

No matter what you do, do NOT try cutting the mitre with a jigsaw. Jigsaws are for cutting curves. They are absolutely the wrong tool for trying to cut a straight line.

If you can't get someone to do it you're going to want to cut the miters with a circular saw and a fence that you make for it to run along to ensure that the cut is dead straight. Incidentally, this is how you're going to want to cut up your cabinet plywood as well. Take a look at what Snav did and the jigs that she created for cutting her wood. That's exactly what you want to do. Make sure you have a good quality plywood blade for cutting as well.

As far as the angle of the miters goes, you can pretty much guarantee that your corner is not 90 degrees dead on, and that your walls are flat along their face that abuts where the countertop will run. Do what you can to check it, and when you cut your miters err on the side of having too big an angle and not too small. You can always take more wood off but you can't put more on.

leiona

Wow guys ..thank you for the advice on mitering my corner! I had no idea it needed to be so precise! unfortunately the seller of the countertop does not make any cuts. I will ask my local builders wholesale and other hardware stores around here if anyone has a radial arm saw. I'm thinkin they must. I'm pretty sure I can take on that sinkhole, thanks Jim!

....but if noone should happen to be able to cut my corner for a decent price, what do you think of butting them up squarely like in this pic i found?

Attached Thumbnails

 

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fixrite

If I was going to do it that way I would make sure the edge is cut square and then I would use biscuits at the very least to hold it. You can get cleats that are specifically made for connecting countertops, but they need to be cut specifically for the connectors to be used. I am not sure if you have the tools needed to do that.

BigJim

You would have way less problems running your top like that. If the corner isn't a perfect 90° it will be easier to correct like that also. I don't remember, are you installing a back splash? If so it could hide some of the gaps that almost surely will arise between the walls and the back of the top.

Just to let you know, Coco hasn't abandoned you, there are some issues he needs to attend to of great importance.

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Jim

leiona

hmmm, well I guess i'm gonna have to figure it out somehow, anyways 'cause they are a-comin...but not for more than a week so that will give me some time. Believe me when I tell ya..none of the things i do are gonna look perfect, but when its all built and i get to make it look artsy and rustic...my mistakes will surely blend right in

I'm currently looking for pics of cabinet doors so I know which inlay i like...I'm leaning toward textured stainless, or some type of metal. I'm thinkin glass on lower cabinet doors isn't such a brilliant idea after all.

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leiona

OMG JIm ..I hope he's ok jeez...I don't even want to think about anything happening to him. He's a very inspiring person.

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fixrite

Not sure just what you meant by inlays for your doors, but....you could use something like this over a plywood panelled door. Since you mentioned rustic, well this looks countryish, but there are many different kinds.
http://www.china-sinks.com/copper-ti...per-murals.jpg