Is there a tool that’s best for this purpose? Had a large guillotine style tool a few years ago but Bunnings don’t seem to have it now.
Lisa
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Lmdonovan. It's terrific to have you join us and many thanks for your question on cutting floating floor.
It sounds like the tool you’re remembering is a set of fibre-cement shears. Those could possibly work for thin (2mm) adhesive vinyl flooring, but they aren’t suitable for thicker (8mm) floating floorboards. I’ve never seen them used for that purpose, and they simply don’t have the capacity to cleanly cut standard floating floor materials.
For typical 8mm floating floorboards, the most practical way to cut them neatly is with a circular saw fitted with a fine-tooth blade. Make sure the blade is suitable for laminate or engineered timber so it gives a smooth edge without chipping. You can also use a straight edge as a guide to keep the cut perfectly straight. For shorter cuts, a hand-held jigsaw with a fine-tooth blade works too, but a circular saw is generally faster and cleaner.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
G'day @Lmdonovan
The title uses the word 'neatly' - they are/were not a particularly neat cut with the guillotine in my opinion. I don't remember ever seeing them in Bunnings but I did buy one from Aldi - that was 15 years ago. The top of the cut isn't too bad - but underneath it's mincemeat. And it's tough going. As the sun rose this morning I got it out and tried 10mm (box says maximum is 12mm) and nearly tore a shoulder tendon.
I do believe you would be better served with a drop/sliding saw or electric handsaw as per @MitchellMc's advice.
Cheers and good luck!
