Home > How To Work With Formica Plastic Laminate > Safety Tips-Working With Plastic Laminate-Wilson Art Formica Nevamar

Safety Tips-Working With Plastic Laminate-Wilson Art Formica Nevamar

September 1st, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

Cabinet plastic laminate distributors like Wilsonart, Formica Brand and Nevamar distribute sample chains annually. One look at the sample chips and you might think that they are comparatively the same in quality. Having worked with all three of these companies laminates, my outlook is that they are all exceptional products. However, a number of of the materials are more difficult to work with than others.

So, what does all that have to do with safety tips in relation to working with the various mica resources for cabinets and countertops. Basically, certain laminates are thinner and more brittle to work with than others. Because of this fact, it’s important to be very careful when handling your materials and working with them until you determine how durable the cabinet or countertop plastic laminate is that you’re handling.

Safety Procedures When Working with Cabinet Laminate

Safety Glasses-You must wear some sort of eye protection when working with Formcia, Wilsonart or Nevamar brand laminates. When the materials are being cut, either with a saw or high speed small hand router, chips will fly in all directions. Getting one of these lodged inside your eye socket will cause intense pain. Scratches will occur on your eye and tissue surrounding the eye as well.

Rolling the Plastic Laminate- It is all through this procedure of the cabinet or countertop fabrication process that most injuries occur. Since the small hand rollers are only about three and a half inches in width, it’s easy for the tool to slip off of the edge of the material that you are contact gluing the plastic laminate to as you are rolling it. Since of the downward force that must be applied while rolling the Formcia, when the roller slips off, the fabricators hands are in danger of slamming against the sharp laminate edge. The end result is an instant knuckle buster that always draws blood.

When there is a large portion of laminate overhanging the cabinet or countertop and the roller slips off, the craftsman is in danger of getting a bad slice. The Wilsonart, Nevamar or Formica beaks off leaving a razor sharp edge which can undoubtedly cut the hand.

Chipped Edges When Cutting-When you are cutting a section of plastic laminate on a table saw and there are chips or gouges on the edge of the plastic, it is possible to get your hand snagged in the chip or damaged area as you are pushing it through the saw. If you discover that the edge of your laminate sheet is damaged, try to remove it by ripping a slight amount off of the sheet. Since the force is extreme when pushing the mica through the saw it does extensive damage to the hand each time the snag lodges the sharp break into a persons hand.

Cutting Mica on Windy Days-Just be aware that a good gust of wind will create major difficulties while you are cutting the plastic cabinet or countertop material. It’s a good idea to always turn off any high powered shop fans before beginning to cut the Formica.

Running Hand/Fingers on Laminate-If you decide it essential to rub your hand or fingers on top of the laminate in a particular direction, make sure that you are not going to acquire small chips wedged into your flesh.

The greatest safety tip that I can impart to you is: Work with the material at a reasonable pace. Because the edges are as sharp as razor blades, when they get broken off, do not get in a rush. Take your time the whole time all of the cabinet or countertop laminating procedures are being performed. Working with Wilsonart, Formica or Nevarmar laminates can be a lot of fun if you take precautionary measures to shield yourself from injury.

  1. No comments yet.
  1. No trackbacks yet.

*