# cutting ezystone worktops



## andychip38 (1 Feb 2011)

hi all just wanted to know if anyone has ever fitted and ezystone worktop from homebase as i have a kitchen to do next month with them .i have looked at the fitting dvd and it all looks straight forward but just wanted to here from someone who has used it thanks


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## The Wood Butcher (1 Feb 2011)

If it is anything like all the other solid surfaces then it is incredibly easy to work with woodworking tools and techniques. Main thing is to be spotlessly clean and uses lots of ethanol and microfiber cloths to clean any areas that are to be jointed. If you skimp on this the seams will be visible.

Also, make sure you follow the reccomendations for under surface support and protect from heat sources with silver tape.


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## The Wood Butcher (1 Feb 2011)

The other big issue is to use as much dust extraction as you own whenever you cut or rout, as the shavings go everywhere and the dust can't be good for you...


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## Richard D (1 Feb 2011)

I can attest to that.

I was routing some Capri worktop today (Howdens' own-brand take on Corian, I believe). I'm making a kitchen trolley/mobile island/worktop extension thingy (we've always said that our kitchen worktop was about 80cm too short, right from when it was fitted), but of course Howdens discontinued the chuffing stuff within weeks of our kitchen being fitted. Fortunately I saved the bit that had been cut out for the sink from the skip, and I'm going to set it into a beech frame (to match the units).

Of course, the bit of worktop I have wasn't cut straight or square, so I spent the morning armed with my little router, a TCT straight cutter and a workmate. Note to self - some try-squares are NOT square, and when working with a limited quantity of unobtainable material it's a really bad idea to start marking things out - let alone do any cutting - when things aren't in fact square).

Anyway, the main point being, this stuff generates a HECK of a lot of dust. I was only taking a mil or two off each edge, yet after each cut I was covered in the stuff like a snowman. It generates quite a lot of dust if you're sanding it, but that's nothing compared to the amount of dust you get when cutting. 

As for its health effects, you're looking at lots of very fine, very dense man-made particles. I don't *know* what the health effects could be if you were breathing it in, but I'd assume that they are Very Very Bad.


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## The Wood Butcher (1 Feb 2011)

The usual claim is that the component parts of solid surface are "inert" and therefore poses no hazard to health, which may well be true. I'm neither a chemical engineer, a biologist nor an epidemiologist, all of whom probably said breathing asbestos was an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

I however suspect that the law of unintended consequences is strong in solid surfaces, and much as I like working with Corian and the like I treat it with much respect with regards respiration protection and extraction. Plus it smells terrible when you cut it...

Routing it is the worst! It flows, literally flows off the tooling like your own portable blizzard!!


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## Richard D (1 Feb 2011)

As I understand it, you can do a lot of damage to your lungs by breathing in otherwise completely "inert" materials if the dust is fine enough. As you say, better safe than sorry.


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