Can I Use A Belt Sander On A Laminate Countertop

New laminate can instantly upgrade your kitchen bathroom or laundry.

Can i use a belt sander on a laminate countertop.

Installing laminate counters is a great project for a handy homeowner and can save you a lot of money over hiring a contractor. You can also use your orbital sander and fine grit sandpaper to plane just a little off the countertop edges to make the new laminate surface fits better at the edges and under sinks and tap hardware. Place countertop on saw horses laminate side up. A coarse belt works best because it removes laminate and the substrate quickly yet neatly.

Obviously it requires a 3 x 24 sanding belt. Do not sand into laminate yet. Use coarse grit sandpaper to rough up the underlay for the new surface even if it is the old laminate. You can gradually sneak up on a curved line for a perfect fit.

A common use for a small belt sander is scribing. The best belts to use are cloth coarse medium 50. I always like to use the three inch 3 by twenty one inch 21 porter cable belt sander. If you have a lot of excess countertop say 1 8 inch or more cut off most of it with a jigsaw and then use a belt sander to finish up to the pencil line.

On a laminate countertop make sure the direction of belt travel pushes the laminate down. The idea is to have the back splash contact the wall with the smallest possible surface touching. The heavier the better when it comes to sanding out humps and bumps to a nice flat even surface. With a belt sander fig 1 3 x 21 size works well sand pine stick to approximately a 45 point fig 2.