Best Project wood

EZ cutting preformed counter top to size

Recently, to give my wife a place to work with her plants, I added cabinets, shelving, a sink and counter tops to our renovated garage.  I used preformed laminate counter tops from a big box store.  One of the counter tops had to be shortened.  In the past I had used a saber saw for such things (cutting from the under side), but never was satisfied with the result.  I decided to use my EZ Track and EZ Square.  I put the counter top upside down on my Smart Table, marked the cut line (which was not square because the corner is not square), and clamped the EZ Track to make the cut.  Because of the lip on the underside of the front, I also put some 3/4" scrap under the track.

A regular EZ Clamp worked for the front edge of the counter top, but I needed a longer clamp for the splash edge.  I could have used the EZ Long Clamps, but I opted to use a custom clamp I made from a KliKlamp.

With that first cut made, I aligned the EZ Square with the cut edge and clamped it to the splash.  I then carefully made the cut, holding the saw tight against the track.

It worked like a dream and there was no chip-out.

6/3/2011
As requested, here are some pictures of the cut edge.  But first, the factory edge on the cut-off:
Here are a couple of the factory edge on the uncut end.

And finally, the cut end.