p.owen
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I have searched the forum but cannot find the info I need.
I am in the process of fitting a ‘u’ shaped kitchen and have got stuck on fitting the laminate worktops.
I am going to use a jig and router to make the joints but, although I have done this before, the walls were 90 degrees to each other then and the joints were not a problem, the walls in my kitchen are not 90 degrees.
How do I allow for this when making the joints as the jig only has fixed pegs to make a 90 degree joint?
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wandango75
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usually you cut the left hand worktop first using the female cut using the jig and pegs then lay the next worktop the male over the top of the female propped up on the other end so that its level then set up your desired overhang of the worktop then from underneath the worktop where the female cut is mark with pencil onto the new worktop to be cut then turn over the worktop and mark up an extra 9mm away from the line you have just drawn (away from the edge to be cut)then set up your male jig using the front pegs align it with the second line you have just drawn clamp in place then cut away as normal.
phew got there in the end hope this helps 
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p.owen
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It sort of helps.
If I use the front pegs, they set the jig at 90 degrees to the front face of the worktop.
Because of the design of the kitchen which is ‘u’ shaped I have no option but to fit the bottom run of the ‘u’ first – this is a tight fit between the 2 walls.
I thought that I could put a right and a left hand female joint in – one at each end. These would both be with the jig and would therefore be the normal 90 degrees or parralel to the front face.
I then thought of making the male side of each joint on the ‘upright’ sections of the ‘u’.
If I mark the male joint by placing the worktop either over or under the female joint and the locating the jig 9mm back from this mark and clamp it rather than using the locating pins will this still give the correct angles for te joint?
The room must be trapeziod (think that is the right term) in shape because both the side walls run out approx. 4 inches over a 3 metre length of worktop.
exagerated slighlty it is shaped like this – \_\
There is something nagging in the back of my head that if I cut the second (male) joint at an angle then the normal angle in the joint will be incorrect and that I should be marking both the male and female joints at a 90 degree angle to the wall and not 90 degrees to the face edge of the worktop as you would normally do.
Is my thinking correct?
I hope you understand what I am trying to say – I find it difficult to explain in words.
I would post some photos or diagrams but the forum does not seem to use them?
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timfoley
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Paul,
Most kitchens walls are out of square and this can, on most occasions, be legislated for in using only one pin at the front end of the jig that meets the postform edge for the male joint. (Use the pin nearest the joint). This allows for the angle to be adjusted out of square.yet may need some shaving of the postform edge when worktops are butted together. This can be quite time consuming but patience will result in a good joint.
My own method, in the not too distant past when I was performing around six joints a week, was to first scribe the worktops independently to each wall, ensuring that the overhangs were both sufficient and even. I would then place a worksurfaces in situ and overlay the second to determine the true start point of the female joint. To do this I applied masking tape to the lower surface front edge postform and lay the second top over this. Using a combination square butted up to the overlaid top, I would transfer the start point to the masking tape below and clamp the jig once I’d determined that the router blade would commence cutting at this point.
After cutting the female joint, again lay the second worktop above and mark out on the underside of this top, the joint with a pencil line the full length. Remove the top and make the male joint using two points of reference, one near the back and one near the front.
Repeat the process for a third top in a U-shaped kitchen.
For instances where the wall angles are substantially different from the norrm. and as worktop templates are only made to accommodate mason mitres of 90 degree and 45 degree configurations, I suggest making the joint as a traditional angled mitre running at a 45 degree angle from the corner of the room to the postform front edge using the worktop bolts to strengthen from the underside.
Cuts can still be made using the router after clamping a straight edge to the surface but additional worktop lengths are required as all surfaces will run from each corner.
I’m sure there is a facility to allow pictures on the forum but haven’t investigated this fully yet. I will update on the method when I discover how best to do this.
Hope this proves useful,
Tim
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p.owen
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Thanks for that info.
I did think of using a 45 degree degree joint and adusting the angle accordingly to suit the wall angles but, as you say, that would need a longer worksurface to work with and that, I just don’t have. The 3 metre length is only just enough with the width of the other surface added – I would have to join another length in if I did a 45 degree joint.
I think I will see if the local woodshop has got a few offcuts and try your first method on them.
I get the feeling though that I might end up marking out and cutting my own joint rather than using a jig.
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