Hitting a roadblock doing my very first furniture DIY project

consoletable

Due to special needs for some home electronics and inspired by Bunnings' "industrial" DIY style, I've decided to start my very first DIY furniture project - an industrial style console table!

I spent weeks learning the basics online, sketching out my design and planning the project, as well as the entire day today buying tools and materials at Bunning. I intentionally left wood shopping to last because I thought, "hey, wood panels are heavy!" I also planned to have Bunnings cut the wood panels into sizes for me.

After I had paid for all the smaller items and stored them away in my car, I went back for the wood, and that was when I found out Bunnings couldn't actually cut the panel I wanted to purchase. This was really a surprise to me as Bunnings' website has no mention of limitations to woodcutting, and previously when I asked Bunnings staff members about woodcutting, they all told me straight out they can do it, without qualifying the wood type.

So the wood panel I want to use for my console table is the SpecRite 1800 x 405 x 18mm Brown Acacia Oiled Hardwood Panel (bunnings.com.au). Having said that, I mainly care about the dimensions, and any of these panels will do for my project: Search - Our range | Bunnings Warehouse 

After visiting two different Bunnings stores, a very nice lady staff member finally told me in detail why they couldn't cut it and offered some advice about cutting the board my self:

> Because of how the wood panel is constructed, Bunnings' cutting machine would rip the individual blocks apart.

> Apart from the one I was interested in, Bunnings also couldn't cut any panel that's wrapped in plastic, or any laminated panels.

> I can try cutting the pre-finished panels myself using a circular saw, but -

> > I need to use a saw blade with a lot of teeth;

> > I need to go slowly when doing the cutting; and

> > I may still end up splitting/ripping the wood blocks and I won't be able to fix it once that happens.

I very much appreciate the lady's advice, but I'm also very discouraged right now, and I do have doubts about whether it's really THAT risky to cut those pre-finished panels. After all, the product pages do show those panels being turned into shelves and benchtops, all of which I assume require cutting the panels first.

Could someone help me by providing some clarity as to whether it's a viable option to cut the pre-finished panels with a circular saw?

I don't own one right now but am eyeing this one: AEG 1200W 184mm Circular Saw | Bunnings Warehouse

Following the lady's advice, I'll probably also need to get one of these saw blades: Search - Our range | Bunnings Warehouse - Will the cheapest one do?

I'm also planning on getting this for a cutting top: Bastion 1200 x 600 x 30mm XPS Multi-Use Insulation Foam Board (bunnings.com.au)

Perhaps also this for a straight cut: Craftright 50" Aluminium Clamp And Cutting Guide | Bunnings Warehouse

And some masking tape to prevent splitting; not sure if relevant in my case though: Paint Partner 24mm x 50m Blue 14 Day Resistance Masking Tape (bunnings.com.au)

Any advice on these potential spending?

Any of them aren't really necessary?

It's a project I've been keen about for weeks and I'd hate to call it off...

Cheers

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @consoletable. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for sharing your project.

There are absolutely no issues with cutting those panels yourself or reasons to call your project off. You can easily do this at home, and I wouldn't expect you to run into any difficulties. I would even go as far as to say that the increase in saw teeth is unnecessary, but will ensure a very clean cut.

I've cut these boards up several times, both along the grain and across it. I've never had an issue with achieving a clean cut or with blocks falling out. I've used a basic 24 tooth blade but have always taped across the timber and cut along and through the tape. This is just good practise on any board you don't want tear-out on.

These laminated products are still rather new to the market, and we are just not set up in-store to do finishing cuts in them. We'd hate to send you home with a board that has obvious tear-out from our blades, which are more suited to cutting boards to fit in the car and get you home. Even if they offered to cut the boards, my preference would be to do it at home and tape the cuts beforehand, that way being able to take my time.

The AEG 1200W 184mm Circular Saw would be a great tool for the job. Personally, I feel the sharp 24 tooth blade it comes with would be fine, but you might like to do a test cut to check the finish. I completed my most recent projects cutting these panels with a blunt and rusty 24 tooth blade and it gave a fine finish.

I've included below an image of the type of cut I achieved with the old blade. The cut is perfectly straight, and it is the old fibro wall which is distorted. As you can see, there is no tear-out, and it is a near-perfect cut.

Please let me know if you need further help or had questions.

Mitchell