Laminate floor going mental

First thought-the boards are too tight against the walls.there needs to be an expansion gap of 1/2" around the whole thing :?


Aha :) read your post oh weird one :oops:
 
Well, when that exakt saw turns up an expansion gap is going to be created, that should sort it out enough for now, if it expands again and takes up that space well, by then it will be past it anyway, but laminate flooring what sort of life does it have five years ?
 
poweredbypies":2j4cu8i2 said:
me and my uncle went to a house where they had oak down and had a leak. It had bowed up a foot in the middle of the room and was starting to push the bricks out of the walls at the bottom :shock:
Ye Gods! Didn't realise it could exert that type of force!
 
Chopper1192":349q1544 said:
poweredbypies":349q1544 said:
me and my uncle went to a house where they had oak down and had a leak. It had bowed up a foot in the middle of the room and was starting to push the bricks out of the walls at the bottom :shock:
Ye Gods! Didn't realise it could exert that type of force!
Oak is a real nightmare when it comes to seasonal expansion.I did a lovely chest of drawers[fine dovetails ,quality job :cool: ] In the workshop it looked excellent,well worth the £1800 we charged the customer.
They took delivery of it then stuck it in front of a radiator.2 weeks later we got a call as all the drawers were jambed :evil: although the linings were sapele the fronts were oak and they swelled about 10mm each.If the customer hadnt left a drawer open its likely the top would have been ripped off.
Since that time any drawer type of work they do they first deliver the planed oak to the customers house to acclimatize.It sits there for a fortnight before being remachined and worked on quickly.One of the problems is the workshop is for the most part unheated

Laminate is made from MDF for the most part or if you buy the better stuff made from plywood.Being a natural material it will move with the seasons or even the central heating,but only in the region of a couple of mm over several feet.Its also moisture protected so unless its actually sitting in a puddle it wont absorb moisture from the air or surrounding walls,flooring,skirting etc
With a 10-12mm gap all the way around it wont cause any seasonal issues :cool:
 
Laminate floor sorted, the saw came and I have enlarged the expansion gap, I can now walk across my floor without springing boards, but laminate flooring in the kitchen is never a good idea, that came up and lino is going down.
 
How is the wee exakt saw thingy :? been looking at them myself but the price for a non pro tool i thought was a tad high.
What did you pay for it SC ?
 
The Exakt saw yes they are a tadge expensive for what they are, but the company is Scottish, so one is supporting Scottish Industry for what that's worth, but I paid fifty quid which included delivery for it is a graded product, that is cosmetic return and has a 3 month warranty which isn't bad as it's not electronic and if it is going to die it will do so when I am first using it as I am using it heavily.

It runs quite hot in use and is somewhat awkward what with the angle grinder style slide switch and I understand a health and safety inspired button to release the plunge mechanism, that came off straight away on mine , not broken but I removed it as it is awkward and the plunge spring is strong enough to stop the guard enclosure from being moved by accident. ( I understand later models are not as awkward, they have responded to customer input)

It cuts on the upstroke which I thought was odd, which means the machine does not drag itself into the cut so it can be quite precise as the cut is fully dependant on oneself driving it and after a bit of practice it can plunge into a cut and cut to a line, the cutting guide is pretty good, it lines up well with the blade.

Depth of cut it says up to 12 mm, I would say it is good for 10mm which is plenty enough for laminate. Dust extraction is excellent and it is advisable to use it when the destructions say it is advisable. But in conclusion, it is good for what it is designed for, a bit of a specialist tool and the one I have is the destroy- it- yourself model, but there are more professional variants available even reconditioned like mine. Blades, mine came with two, just bog standard wood cutting HSS blades a 30t and a 44t, but tct blades are available as are ceramic cutting blades and I think metal cutting plus a variety of attachments which expand the versatility of the thing. Oh and yes, it is well built out of resilient materials

The seller I got mine from ;

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/exakt_precisi ... 1497.l2754

Which made me laugh really, what with second hand machines being sold for more in the auction section.

Oh and I used to be a power tool repairman trained by Bosch at Denham and have handled/repaired thousands of professional use power tools over a ten year period including Festool, Fein, Metabo, Trumpf and Flex and fully understand a well built machine when I see it, the Exakt saw is not of Black and Decker or Ryobi quality, but so far in my understanding of what I have experienced,the d-i-y model is somewhere up in the middle range in terms of build quality. I have not taken it apart yet to investigate how well built the innards are and won't unless I get really bored or it breaks outside of the warranty period and so I have yet to discover what it is like for spares availability, armature and field for major repairs and brushes for minor repairs.
 
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All circular saws cut on the upstroke,otherwise a jam would send it flying forwards possibly out of your grip.Pain in the bum as it means the 'good' side has to be faced down which isnt always possible :?

10-12mmisnt that deep certainly not for my usage :? i'd need something that could handle 19mm faced boards so it seems that laminate is its intended use.Still that said very handy for the job you need it for :cool:

Royobi- I use their drills and in the workshop on the bench when theres lots to be done in the way of changing bits its far better to have multiple drills than just the one, even with a snap in bit holder,its where they shine :? in that you can run 3 roybi drills for the price of one makita[1.drill bit 2.Countersink 3. screwdriver bit. The 3 year warranty is a bonus here too in that if it goes[like you said] it goes in the first few months,you then take it back to B&Q and get another :D
I wouldnt touch cheap routers though.the cutter isnt centred in the casting of the base so if you turn it in use or for progressive cuts it cuts out.Sometimes as much as 2mm and that can totally ruin a job or piece.


These are good and down in price now theyve put them into their DIY range
http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... CGkQ8wIwAA
 
Routers, from what came in for repair, the most popular were Elu/Dewalt, Makita and Hitachi, but Trend's, just seemed to keep going. Myself, I liked Hitachi for Wood cutting machines, they seem to be well built and deliver a lot of grunt.

All the machines I had were built out of recovered parts, scrapped machines, anything useful and not broke was kept and shoved under the bench, so I ended up with most machines for wood work and a lot for metal including Makita nibblers and shears - excellent tools, A plethora of two stroke machines, mostly disc cutters and chain saws and when I had an example of each machine, I built up others for the workforce as the company I worked for didn't pay much so I understood as workshop manager to keep good men on side a perk now and again always helps and perks built out of scrap in my time did the job. I lost the lot when my marriage broke up, she sold them all to cash converters.

But Ryobi, I hope they have improved, because our company was one of the service agents for the things and warranty repair, every day, 14.4v cordless drills came in for the same faults every time, mostly switches and motors, but a reasonable tool otherwise for the money, but I am going back nine or ten years here, so loads could have happened since then.

My cordless machines were Hitachi, 12v, 14.4v and 24v and I agree having several tools the same does help when trying to work quickly and efficiently.
 
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