When we think about cutting laminate flooring most of us think of using a milter saw or a jigsaw or sometimes a speciality tool, but what we don’t realize is that there are various other tools that can cut laminate flooring and each of them have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Let’s have a look at these useful tools and how to use them to cut laminate flooring. You may be surprised to see a few as you may not know they even existed.
- Laminate Flooring Cutters
Flooring cutters are specially made for cutting laminate floors and they work like a large-sized paper cutter. One of the best things about these cutters is the fact that they never make any dust. Flooring cutters come in several different designs but they function in almost the same way. You basically use the leverage for cutting laminate, putting force on the blade to cut the boards. However, these tools only work for crosscuts and cannot be used for ripping. - Miter Saw
Using a miter saw is the most common and fastest method to cut laminate but like any other tool, it does have a few drawbacks. It is a good option because all you need is a little mark and this tool will do the rest of the work for you. It is the ideal tool for cutting laminate and can be used to make perfect 90° cuts (or cuts at any other angle). You can use either a sliding miter saw or a non-sliding miter saw, but make sure that its blade large enough to cut the full width of the flooring in one go. - Jigsaw
Jigsaw is a very handy tool, especially for specialty cuts like heating/air-conditioning vents in the floor. It can be used for rips and crosscuts as well. Jigsaw is much slower than miter saw, so keep in mind that it’s going to burn through a lot of blades. When using a jigsaw, it is better to go for a medium to fine toothed blade to cut the laminate flooring. However, you need to make sure that its exposed side is up while you’re cutting. In case you notice that the base of jigsaw is scratching the floor, you can put tape on it soften the base. In this way you can prevent any gouging or scraping that may occur during the cutting process. - Circular Saw
You can use a circular saw for cutting laminate but it will require some extra tools like a square and also a work surface to cut the flooring on. The ideal workbench for this job is a piece of plywood and sawhorses. However, if you use circular saw on this type of work surface, keep in mind that it’s going to create a good amount of dust on the floor. Moreover, if this dust falls on your newly installed laminate flooring it’s going to make it so slippery that one can easily fall. So make sure to keep a broom or a vacuum near you to clean up the dust frequently. - Specialty Tools
There are some specialty tools that make cutting laminate flooring a lot more convenient and easier than the above mentioned tools. They are lightweight and smaller than most of the other tools and create little to no dust during the cutting process. One of these specialty tools is the Dremel Trio. It is a very cool tool as it works like a plunge router and can make quick square, circle or rectangle cuts in your floor pieces. Another common specialty tool is the Dremel Saw Max. it is basically a small circular saw with a much smaller blade, thus it can be used to make tighter cuts. This tool can make any type of cuts including rips and crosscuts, and can also come in handy when cutting heating/air-conditioning floor vents.
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