NOt the best quality shots, and none on site, but here is a difficult laminate top that came out quite well.

Working from the remodeler's template, we made a laminate top that has adjacent rolled cove splashes that had to allow for a bay window behind the sink area. Here is the top before we coved the backsplashes:



It looks like a flat top because the splashes are not yet coved up. Here is a close up of the prep work need to make that happen:



This is the point where two angled splashes will meet when they get heated and coved. Everything has to be exact here, or the splashes weill be off either in height or depth or length. The thin cut line you see is what will be the actual cove bend.

Here is the top after coving the splashes:


Here is the close up of the angled splashes after coving:


Not the easiest top to make, but it shows what can be done, and how good talent is not wasted on laminate. John, my top laminate fabber is the guy who made this happen.

Another overall shot:



The top fit like a glove - very talented remodeler, who really understands how we make our stuff made the template.

Note that every splash has a rolled cove. No miters, and the only seams are rigid glued (no field joints).

I never thought you could do a cove laminate top like that. Pretty impressive. How do you heat the cove to bend it and then once you do, how do you clamp in place?

Like most "machines", the more simple the more flexible, but the slower. In this case it is so simple that I don't even want to tell you. All you need to remember is that laminate bends at a temperature (315 F) very close to where it burns or blisters (325F), so the real issue is how do you bend without burning. Solve that problem and you can bend whatever is bendable in laminate. There are no miters on any of the ytops on that web page.

The idea is to have a bending bar that allows you to turn the corner with the top. Technically you can't get the appropriate amount of heat into the inside corner, and that's where a torch and some talent comes into play.

Same thinkng with  outside corners and 180 wraps. They don't make a machine that does tis, so you go simple with a jig, and creative with your laminate cuttting.

Tom:

You are a laminate God. I am not worthy to post behind you.

 

Joe

Joe, if I could repair like you, I might give up laminate entirely.

Okay, enough circle you-know-what... thanks, but in this case it is my laminate guy, John who gets the compliment. I'm starting to get my chops back, though, and look out when I do.

Nice Work Tom

We do that pretty much every day here. I'll try to get some pictures in the next day or two if I'm in the laminate shop.

Laminate tops are easily the most underrated material out there for countertops. When you can have a one-piece countertop rolled up to the upper cabinets, the customer is getting a superior top.




A close up of one inside corner:

Tom,  please pass on my kudos to John your laminate guru,  I couldn't even begin to attempt what you guys do.   When I put the torch to laminate it's usualy to tear off a skin.

Thanks David.
Knowing how to thermoform in laminate allows options that can turn a simple laminate top into something that lasts longer and works better for a given situation.

The top that is pictured to the right on this webpage is rolled from the top of the splash to down and underneath the apron. If the sink is sealed well, there should never be any water issues with a top like this, even in a commercial environment.

Tom,
That laminate cove work is amazing. If you gave a class on how to cove and the techniques involved, I'd attend and pay good $ to learn how. I have folks ask all the time can it be done any other way then  the traditional post form with the corner miter and you are the only one I have scene able to do that.
Very nice work.

Hmmm. Hey Tom. Why dont you give Russ a call. I hear we need a lam expert at this years show.

Thank you, Steve. There are others out there, but most concentrate on commercial production.

If you only consider round over fronts and inside corners, you are limited to mitered seams. Unwrap inside corner tops and you see the materials overlap. Can't get two out of one, so you need to join two different tops together.

However, on outside corners you don't have that limitation. We actually formed an eight sided top with 180 degree wraps all around, no miters (or seams, even).

Could have made a solid surface top cheaper, but that's besides the point.

But given a square front edge, or an applied front edge like a solid surface or bevel edge (or the Gem-loc edges, which I really like), you can roll up adjacent backsplashes all the time.

Jon, I doubt I'll be able to afford the show tis year, but I would not mind putting on a talk or something next time.

Tom, nice laminate work. I am very impressed. Absolutely you have convinced me it is possible. I imagine it is time consuming.

Johnny C

Yes it is, compared to attached splash or set on splash tops, and therein lies the problem. You can only charge so much for this work before you start getting into solid surface or stone territory.

Commercially, it's not so bad, as the volume really helps adjust the price down, but residentially, where we can really make some artwork masterpieces, it can get quite pricey.

I was going to ask if this is cost effective. Seems like you could move up to solid surface for the same price.

Andy, yes, for the most part it is still cost effective. You might make a solid surface window area with 1/2" front edge and a set on splash for about the same money, but I don't think that is a fair comparison to full thickness top, coved splashes, and all the color options yo have with laminate.

There are certainly laminate jobs where the cost would not make it worthwhile, but that is the case with any material, and we would, of course, let the customer know this.