Making laminate countertops

[bradleyheathhays]

I work for a cabinet showroom warehouse, I'll call it. Can't claim there's any actual woodworking being done there though, other than gluing I suppose. We basically put together and deliver cabinets anywhere from JSI up to Kraftmaid paired sometimes with outsourced countertops. The countertops all come from one local supplier and for the most part only go to our apartment community accounts, if that gives you an idea of the type quality I'm dealing with. So today I'm talking to a warehouse guy where I'm picking up some laminate and we get to talking about material cost vs. selling price for these countertops I've been delivering. The general example he gives is you can get $1400 for a top with only around $375 total investment. Although I don't have any countertop experience I can't imagine these tops would take a guy more than a day to make.

So I figured I'd poke around some more and ask how much effort actually goes into making these kinds of pieces. What's the laminate application process like and what kind of equipment does it take?

 

[Joebobber]

I think they are just particle board with a heavy vinyl laminate over top

 

[monophoto]

I think they are just particle board with a heavy vinyl laminate over top

Agreed. The basic process is very simple - anyone who has watched a few episodes of New Yankee Workshop should know how to do it. But I'm not sure that the laminate is always vinyl - it could actually be one of several different materials. And today, you might actually be lucky if the substrate is something as good as particle board - MDF (which is essentially cardboard on steroids) is sometimes used instead.

That said, there are some complications. First, the adhesives are nasty - highly flammable, and producing toxic fumes. Yes, there are newer water-borne versions, but I don't think they work as well. Second, the process of applying the laminate requires a certain amount of skill - contact adhesives permanently bond upon contact, so if you make a mistake, you throw everything away and start over with a new batch of material. Third, edge treatment is tricky. Simple square edges are trimmed using a router, but complicated 'roll-edge', or beveled or coved edges are more involved.

But the other issue here is that, regardless of the product you are talking about, there is generally no correlation between the material cost and the final price of the product paid by the end customer. Selling prices are determined by markets and competition - the price you pay is the price that the market has determined to be appropriate for the product.

There can be a very significant difference between raw material cost and the final selling price, and there are many things that claim a portion of that difference - labor, selling costs, transportation costs, and taxes are obvious, but in most instances a product passes through multiple hands between when it is produced and when it is received by the final owner, and each of those hands expects to make money on the transaction.

So my point is that the fact that the raw material cost is significantly less than the final consumer price does not point to theft, or any other form of corruption. Instead, its a natural part of a capitalistic economy.

 

[MRDucks2]

Years ago I went to a shop to troubleshoot an issue with a motor on a new laminating machine they were installing. The machine itself was a million dollars as I recall at the time and would apply laminate surface and edge in a continuous process across about any profile. They indicated it would pay for itself in 3 months.

In talking with the folks around Elkhart, Indiana where many of the nationals campers and RVs are made, modern processes are much simpler. The aubstrate is profiled by a CNC machine including turns and corners up to the machine capacity and the laminate is applied and vacuum formed by another process. Volumes can be large and easy.

To be successful as an individual I would think you would need to find a niche market unique enough that you can accommodate without volume requiring additional help. Otherwise your time and cost will likely exceed that of the more automated systems.

 

[TellicoTurning]

There can be a very significant difference between raw material cost and the final selling price, and there are many things that claim a portion of that difference - labor, selling costs, transportation costs, and taxes are obvious, but in most instances a product passes through multiple hands between when it is produced and when it is received by the final owner, and each of those hands expects to make money on the transaction.

So my point is that the fact that the raw material cost is significantly less than the final consumer price does not point to theft, or any other form of corruption. Instead, its a natural part of a capitalistic economy.

This has nothing to do with wood working or counter tops, but about 1984-85 I was in partnership with group that was starting up a forwarding company doing exports and imports... one of our contacts had a contact for a manufacturer of knit shirts much like the Izod shirts with the alligator and Polo with the polo player... these shirts would come in un-adorned and would cost us $2 each plus import duties of about 20%... if adorned the duty rate was 40%.... by the time these shirts reach a retailer, because of the multiple hands they move through, they were selling for close to $18 each...