Laminate flooring for signs?

[Rick P]

Has anyone ever experimented with the laminate flooring that looks like various hardwoods as sign material???

I wonder if I use v-bits to carve centerline text if I could carve through the darker wood-like material on top and into the lighter colored material.

Thickness might the problem...limiting the text to smaller sizes???

[dbfletcher]

Ive used that for the US coin map. It actually turned out well. I'll take a pic of the one i did for my gf next time Im at her place. I'm not sure of the exact composition, but it carved very close to how mdf carves.

Doug Fletcher

[Woodhacker]

Hi Rick. I had asked a similiar question (hardwood flooring) some tome ago and got the following info. Quite a few of the guys had used hardwood flooring for projects. The drawback seemed to be that you can run into voids. Or, if you use T&G, you almost HAVE to cut the T&G off in order to get a decent carve. I think for using the Centerline feature of the software and using a shallow carve, you would be able to use the laminate without too much problem. Just remember that the interior of the laminate is a ply product.

Richard

[AskBud]

I Have success with old cabinet door center panels. I stay away from the real oak, but use most others as they usually a nice hardwood with a stain finish. I place them on a sled as they are too slick for the belts to handle. I pick up some of mine at Habitat, usually @ $1.00 a door.
AskBud

[geekviking]

For the info on Habitat for humanity ReStore! I did not even know that such a thing existed & I have one within 10 miles of my home! What an awesome project, save us money on materials & help our communities at the same time. And here I thought all they did was build housing for those in need. (not that that wouldn't be enough... :))

[Hank]

I just finished laying down a laminate floor. When cutting the laminate I actually seen sparks coming from the saw blade. It dulled both my carbide tipped 12" chop saw and my 10" table saw blades. I would be very concerned about the carving bit. The substrate of the laminate is not MDF it's a much harder material. Just my opinion.

Hank

[Dan-Woodman]

I agree with Hank
I did my hallway with laminate ,and it dulled my $130.00 Forrest Woodworker II,and $60.00 dewalt blade .
later Daniel

[dbfletcher]

For what is is worth, I looked up Pergo flooring and it said it used high density fiberboard (HDF) for the substrate. So i guess I know why I said it carved similair to mdf... and if you do a search on HDF, here is one defintion i found..

"HDF - High Density Fibreboard
is characterised by a high hardness and density and is designed for the manufacture of floor panels."

However, I didnt really research it more to see what the actual specifications are between mdf and hdf.

So i guess it is probably not good for our bits... but I've been told that since day one with using mdf as well.

Doug Fletcher

[Rick P]

Thanks for the info on the guts of laminate flooring...I did not realize the inner material was so hard.

[Dan-Woodman]

I think it is the outer plastic laminate that is dulling the bits ,not the inner core. The outer core of mine is just like formica.
later Daniel