can anyone give me advice on doing a butt&scribe joint on a worktop?

Answer 1

Assume you propose to fit your own worktops...general tip, ANY cuts that you make, rub clear silicon sealant in, be generous, prevents the worktop getting water in the chipboard and 'blowing' later. As to the 'Butt & Scribe joints, you can hire a router, and jig from a tool hire place for about £40 for the weekend, comes with a video as well. You will need to book your hire, very popular tool. The joining bolts are at B&Q. I had to do 'Internal' joints and an External 90 deg joint as well, Easy ish. Just put a thin piece of board on the cupboards you propose to go over, set at the angle you wish to cut. (generally 45 deg) get your worktop over the top of this thin bit, mark up (on the underside of the top) then transfer your marking to the top of the worktop. set the router to just 'not quite touch' the surface. Now, clamp a long straight edge to the worktop, you use this as a guide on the side of the router. ( I used a spirit level) so that the cut will be on your marked line, drop the router cutter down, and cut. Now, fix that bit of worktop on place, lay your next bit on top so the tip of the first lines up with the second bit, and the back of the second bit lines up with the wall(put a scrap of worktop under the end to line it up flat) repeat the process of marking under and cutting. Mark across the underside of both for your joint bolts, remove both sections, and cut the bolt joint slots.
As to ensuring they are level, yes, you could use biscuit joints, but thats £30.00 to hire the tool. Otherwise, a flat steel plate underneath to hold them flat screwed in hard, and you are done. Silicon seal the joint, clamp it up hard, make sure its nice and flat, job done. Take 2 people to do ideally, the worktop is heavy. By the way, you can only use this method on 38mm tops, there is not enough thickness on the 28 mm tops for the bolts.
By the way, Ryan, dont be so patronising to us DIY folk, we are not that daft we cannot use a biscuit jointer. Hell, if you can use the router to get a good butt & scribe joint, a biscuit jointer is a piece of cake (could be said 'You take the Biscuit...!!!)

Answer 2

I fitted my kitchen worktops, and needed to do a 90degree corner (you stand inside the corner, the outer side fits to the walls), and after sizing up the problem, I just used an electric pendulum saw to cut the worktops, and then used mending plate, (steel plate with pre-drilled holes in it) and lots of screws underneath, both sides of the join. It has worked just fine. The small gap inbetween I filled with a mixture of black silicon sealer and wall tile adhesive. This has set to produce a black (like the worktop) non-porous joint, it looks really professional, having been there for two years now with no movement whatsoever. My local B&Q had a tiny tube of such joint-filling stuff for £7! I think I've done better than I would have hiring a dangerous router, which I haven't used before, messing about with a routing template, getting it all wrong and having to buy another top.
All I can advise is to measure three times, and cut once! Also, if your top is 'too dark to mark', put some white masking tape on it, and then draw the cut-to lines on the tape. Don't be scared, take your time, use a cardboard template (or old piece of plywood) or three, and when you're happy, work on the worktop. Good luck!

Answer 3

As an interior designer, I would agree with most of the previous answers: high gloss will show damage more. Matt is a safer and more practical option, and looks very attractive. I suspect that if you're interested in the gloss worktops you may already have gloss finish on the cupboards. If this is the case, a matt worktop would be a better idea on a design and practical level. A matt surface would frame and emphasize the gloss cupboards, whereas a glossy counter would be too much of a good thing.

Answer 4

not really sure what you want here ..are you wanting to join two worktops together in a straight run .or are you wanting to join in a corner configuration ..if so this is called a mason s mitre .for this you will need a special tool ..if just a butt joint you will need a large square ..a sharp saw .a sharp plane..a bit of patience.. two tips .don't cut end of worktop until you are satisfied with butt joint..otherwise it might be too short.. and seal ends of worktops before you butt them or they will swell ..varnish will do ..butt while wet ..you will all so need either flat plates or special bolts to join together..available from work top supplier

Answer 5

you use a worktop jig and router

(http://www.trendmachinery.co.uk/combijigs/combi600.shtml)

best thing to do is hire one from hss should be about £40 a day and it will come with instructions the most important thing to remember is to cut the right way.

for a left hand male cut you place the jig on the top for the female cut you place the jig on the underside of worktop. the right hand male = underside, right hand female = top. Always cut from front to back. make sure you get a good set of clamps to prevent the jig from moving

Seal cut edges with a waterproof PVA glue.

Ideally you should put some biscuits in too but thats getting a little to advanced for DIY

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Butt And Scribe