Cooling Off Period

Well, it’s done. The method of cutting short sections and letting the bit cool down in between worked reasonably well. I still fried another bearing but it held on long enough. The last few inches were a little wobbly. I won’t lie to you, it doesn’t look bad, but there are parts that look a little amateurish. It’s hard to say how much other people will notice. I think I might have to sell this house if I let these things get to me too much.

If I had to do it over I would have sent away for a high speed diamond bit. They don’t sell them locally. The carbide bit cuts fine but the bearings just aren’t designed for this sort of thing. They caused nothing but trouble. Other than that, the method I used worked well. The template worked well and the hole is the right size. Whew! It came out to be 13 & 1/8 inch square. The sink it 12 inches square with a 1-inch lip so that should give me about a ½-inch reveal of the lip all the way around.

I secured the under side of the piece I was cutting out with wood and then added more support as I went. Also, before I started with the router I scored around the edge of the hole I was cutting with a utility knife. I’m not sure if stone acts the same as tile but I know when I cut tile I just score the surface and it breaks on that line. The old Path of Least Resistance thing. The idea is that if it breaks in the last few inches hopefully it would break in the right place. Fortunately I didn’t need to test that theory.

The two places where the bearings burned out still had some very, very small dents in them. I filled them with putty prior to running the quarter round bit. The quarter round bit also has a bearing that will follow every little imperfection on the bottom edge of the cut I made. When it hits one of those bumps it will follow it. The putty smoothed it out some. I also sanded the edge a bit. Once the round over bit goes over it there is almost no putty left. I'll probably just chip it out.

A vacuum attachment for the router is a must if you do this indoors – even outdoors. The dust it creates is incredible. It is also important that you turn the vacuum on. I forgot to do this a few times and I did get some dust. It’s wasn’t too bad until I went to put the round over on the sink hole. The damn vacuum wouldn’t turn back on. I said screw-it and cut anyway. The kitchens going to be off limits until tomorrow. I think a case of Swiffers should do the trick. It was a fitting end to this project.

I still need to drill the hole for the faucet but I’ll wait on that until after I get the sink it. That will happen tomorrow I think. I also want to go around those last few feet of the perimeter edge again, but I’ll wait until I have a working vacuum. Here’s some random shots.

Outside Edge Round Over


Starting 5/8th inch Hole


Always Drill From The Finish Side


When Bearings Go Bad. Grrrrr!


Router With Vacuum


It Fits! Whew!


Still Life With Dust