I'm doing plain, cheap, white solid surface. My fabricator has a non-Corian line that the color worked okay -- mine is a fairly large folding area and I'd rather spend my money where I'll enjoy it more!! I figured this will be easy to clean and nice and smooth. Arlene

I just had to post here...OMG...the lady that wrote Laminate and luxurious in the same sentence.."NO". I hope I never have to meet someone like you in my lifetime. What a bunch of snobby, snarky..people! I am sorry..I think you can have a beautiful, luxurious kitchen without paying for granite, quartz, soapstone...etc. My goodness. I am building a house now and get to hear from our subs about all of the snooty women that they have to deal with...literally walking out of a house because the closets aren't big enough... What kind of country have we become? I say..if you want to buy high end appliances...beautiful cabinets..and put it all in a laminate kitchen. I think it can be stunning! Don't listen to all of these snooty fruities.....do what YOU want..and the people that matter...won't walk into your kitchen and take a mental note of your laminate..I would think it was beautiful! And for those of you who think that I must be some low life...my husband is a doctor! There....rant over! :-)

My first choice for a counter top is either quartz or granite. Since I couldn't find anything I liked I puchased stock laminate counter top from Menards, but I'm not sure of the name. My intention is to live with this counter top until I find something I love. (most granite yards are hours away.) I was going to use this copper sink as an drop-in and change it to an under mount when the new counters were installed. I just spoke to a rep from Copper Sinks Online and I've decided not to install the copper sink at all, until the new countertops are installed. Now, it's back to the lumber yard! Thanks for responding, my kitchen is only a few days from completion and you've helped me though a nightmare!

If your long straightedge is bowing from the pressure of the router, you could support it in the middle by butting a two-foot-long scrap of particleboard (or almost anything, really) against the back of the straightedge and clamping it to the far side of the counter. That said, as long as the bow in the front edge is a smooth, even contour without abrupt jogs, it shouldn't cause any problem with the laminate. It might be better aesthetically if it were straight, but the laminate doesn't care if it's got a gentle curve in it. It's hard to imagine the counters are sagging on the sawhorses so much that they'll be permanently distorted by gluing laminate on them in that position. However, you'll need them fairly well supported for the glue up so you can lean some of your weight on the roller you use to press the glued surfaces together. For that reason alone it's worth supporting them well. You don't need a lot of sawhorses; I'd just put a couple of 2x4s on edge, on top of the sawhorses to provide even support along the whole length. You'll need to stabilize those 2x4s a bit, probably by nailing or screwing a couple of cross pieces between them, so they don't fall over flat at some inopportune moment. What size router do you have? There's nothing wrong with holding the router sideways except that you don't have practice doing it, and it could be difficult if you have a large, heavy router. The ones made for laminate trimming are small and light and can be held at odd angles with one hand. If you're stuck with a bigger, general-purpose router then it may be worth getting some help to set the pieces on edge as you described. You don't need a giant vise; just clamp it to some stable vertical object like a cabinet frame or the side of a sawhorse. When the clamp gets in the way, stop routing and repostition as necessary. Whichever way you go, if you've never done it before and you can't afford to goof, PRACTICE on some scrap!