Cutting 55mm hole in laminated plywood

[skronk]

Hi,

Forum members were kind enough to tell me how to cut laminate sheet earlier this week. I now want to glue the laminate I have cut to size ....... (about 1mm thick) to plywood and cut 55mm hole in both. Would a new holesaw do this or would it be too rough ? If so, start hole from top or bottom ?

How else to do it ?

Thanks

 

[glynster]

Do you mean laminated or veneered? In either case 55mm is a fair sized hole and at risk of chipping your surface - I would only use a brand new forstner bit in a drill press to do that and even then I would be afraid of chipping the edges of the laminate slightly at entry - and personally I would drill into the laminate side first - that way your drill force is continuing to press them together, not trying to press them apart. I'd test it in a scrap first and if need be firmly clamp another piece of waste board or timber either side of my workpiece board (i.e. sandwich it) and then drill through the whole assembly which should give you a perfect, blowout-free hole. That'd be my first thoughts

 

[petertheeater]

Hi there
To my mind the only sure way to get a clean hole in laminate and ply is with a router.
Because of the small size of the hole you need make a template in thinnish mdf or ply. Drill out an undersized hole in your workpiece or jigsaw it. If you have bearing guided router bit make your template to finish size. Alternatively use a guide bush on the router and make the template to suit the offset. I always keep templates to use again so the time making them is never wasted.
Peter

 

[JakeS]

I now want to glue the laminate I have cut to size ....... (about 1mm thick) to plywood and cut 55mm hole in both. Would a new holesaw do this or would it be too rough ?

I don't know what exactly you mean by 'laminate' - but with formica I got good results (for making a router table top) by cutting the hole with the holesaw first, then gluing the formica on, then drilling through the centre and using a bearing-guided router bit to trim the formica to the same round hole as already existed in the substrate.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I would use a Forstner bit, but 55mm is a bit on the big side to be using hand-held.

So I would use a 30mm Forstner, then use a 1/2" rebate bit in my router, go half way, then finish with a flush-trim bit. You would end up 0.4mm oversize, if that is important, but you would end up with a very clean hole.

 

[skronk]

Thanks for all replies. I will drill hole in plywood with hole cutter, glue laminate (formica) on to plywood, drill pilot hole and use bearing guided router bit.

Can I ask...if I want to drill a hole at a later date approx 30mm could I use a spade bit or would this damage laminate ?

Thanks again.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Thanks for all replies. I will drill hole in plywood with hole cutter, glue laminate (formica) on to plywood, drill pilot hole and use bearing guided router bit.

Can I ask...if I want to drill a hole at a later date approx 30mm could I use a spade bit or would this damage laminate ?

Thanks again.

A spade bit will tear it to shreds.
Use a router and a template as described above by the others

 

[custard]

Another vote for a router based method. Only difference is I'd use a 55mm hole template and copy route to that. I use a template that I think came from Axminster and covers something like 30mm to 90mm in 5mm increments. It's a lot cheaper than an equivalent range of good quality drill bits, you rough cut to within a few mill of the edge with a jigsaw and then run the router clockwise around the perimeter for a super clean result. If you can't clamp the template to the workpiece then double sided tape gets the job done.

 

[skronk]

Another vote for a router based method. Only difference is I'd use a 55mm hole template and copy route to that. I use a template that I think came from Axminster and covers something like 30mm to 90mm in 5mm increments. It's a lot cheaper than an equivalent range of good quality drill bits, you rough cut to within a few mill of the edge with a jigsaw and then run the router clockwise around the perimeter for a super clean result. If you can't clamp the template to the workpiece then double sided tape gets the job done.

That template you have would be quite handy. Can't find it on Axy though. Got a link ?

 

[custard]

Another vote for a router based method. Only difference is I'd use a 55mm hole template and copy route to that. I use a template that I think came from Axminster and covers something like 30mm to 90mm in 5mm increments. It's a lot cheaper than an equivalent range of good quality drill bits, you rough cut to within a few mill of the edge with a jigsaw and then run the router clockwise around the perimeter for a super clean result. If you can't clamp the template to the workpiece then double sided tape gets the job done.

That template you have would be quite handy. Can't find it on Axy though. Got a link ?

I checked this morning and there's definitely an Axminster sticker on it, but you're right it doesn't seem to be listed. Neither is it stocked at Rutlands or in the Trend catalogue. Odd that you can buy no end of useless tat but an economical and versatile jig gets delisted! By the way another nice feature of this template is that the four corners are rounded, so as well as holes it also gives you 20, 30, 40, and 50mm radius corner templates.

 

[skronk]

Another vote for a router based method. Only difference is I'd use a 55mm hole template and copy route to that. I use a template that I think came from Axminster and covers something like 30mm to 90mm in 5mm increments. It's a lot cheaper than an equivalent range of good quality drill bits, you rough cut to within a few mill of the edge with a jigsaw and then run the router clockwise around the perimeter for a super clean result. If you can't clamp the template to the workpiece then double sided tape gets the job done.

That template you have would be quite handy. Can't find it on Axy though. Got a link ?

I checked this morning and there's definitely an Axminster sticker on it, but you're right it doesn't seem to be listed. Neither is it stocked at Rutlands or in the Trend catalogue. Odd that you can buy no end of useless tat but an economical and versatile jig gets delisted! By the way another nice feature of this template is that the four corners are rounded, so as well as holes it also gives you 20, 30, 40, and 50mm radius corner templates.

As usual....plenty available from USA but postage is a downer !!