Formica Repair?

[eleny]

Is there a product to fill in small nicks in Formica? We have pale almond colored counter tops that are older but still look very good except for two small nicks. I'd like to fill them in but can't find any repair products online except one that looks like you have to have the wood grained patterned laminate. Maybe it has some light colors in the kit.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. How big are the nicks?

And are they sufficiently deep that they're a different color .... and therefore notciable?

[eleny]

2. The nicks are small but show the dark color underneath

And they aren't round nicks but more like slivers.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Okay ...... here ya go .........

This tip comes from (believe it or not) repairing old fountain pens (I collect and repair them). This method will fill nicks in the old plastic. It should work just as well on a formica counter.

Remove a chip of the formica from an inconspicuous place. All you want is the surface color. Reduce it to a very fine powder by whatever means necessary (a hammer to sorta mash/grind it may work).

Go to the the chips you have. Wash the chip out with acetone (nail polish remover). Use a toothpick or Q-tip and try to keep it off the surface as it could melt it. If you get a bit of slop, not to worry ... we'll fix that in a bit.

Now get some super glue. The clear kind, not the gel. Put some of the formica dust in the chip. Just enough to cover the dark color at the bottom. Cover that with the super glue. Allow enough super glue so it stands slightly proud of the surrounding surface.

Let the super glue set. I know it says its instant. It isn't - at least not at this thickness. Let it set up overnight. If it shrinks below the surface when it cures, add some more and wait another overnight.

Now sand it down with the very finest sandpaper you can get. Ideally you want to use 2400 grit, although 1200 will work. Don't oversand. Just get it even with the surrounding surface. Now polish the repair. Any abrasive metal polish will work perfectly.

The repair may still be a bit visible, but it should be a lot better than having the nicks.

Note: if you can find some other powder that is a close color to your counter, use that. For example, use talc for a white counter. The super glue is clear when it dries. When I do shallow scratches on pens, I use no color at all. The surrounding color just gets visually 'absorbed' into the clear super glue and it is virtually undetectable.

Overall, this is tedious, but not difficult. And it is virtually free, too!

Good luck!

[NMDemDist2]

4. wow H2S you continue to amaze me. will this work on burn "bubbles"

too? I have another big piece of counter the same color so peeling off a hunk of it for the 'powder' will be easy. it has burned all the way down to the particle board underlayment in a pea sized hole.

i'd love to use the big piece i've got, but then i'd have seams right at the sink about 12" wide and i'd be concerned about the structural strength of holding up the sink with only a couple inches (if that) of long formica before a seam.

sorry about the size of the graphic, but i wanted to show as much detail as I could, it looks pink cuz I tried to cover up the particle board color with nail polish :evilgrin:

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I'm not sure my method will work on such large scars

Super Glue just isn't make to cover such a large area. Remember, it works its best when applied in a thin film. It was never intended as a filler.

Now ..... here are some other thoughts, but I don't know if these will work.

First is casting resin. You can get is at any craft or hobby shop. Just crean out the burn holes, color the bottoms (as in my method, above), and pour in the casting resin. Let it cure and then sand/polish the whole thing.

The other option is to use an iron to try to re-melt the laminate and flatten it out. If anything, this may reduce the noticability. I would try this forst, and if it fails, then do the casting resin thing.

Again, I am just thinking here. I have no experience with either of these ideas.

[NMDemDist2]

6. the iron thing might work on the larger scar which would leave a small

hole your method would cover. the upper one the formica is just gone and it's just particle board. wish I could use that extra piece I have to just replace the whole thing, but i'm really worried the remaining original piece just won't hold up the sink, any thoughts on that?

I guess I could live with the darn seams if it comes to that :banghead:

[eleny]

7. Thanks!

That's a number of steps but none sound too difficult to accomplish.

You repair old pens this way? Must be hard to find a spot to take a bit from to repair a damage. Since pens are so small, the pickings could be slim!

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Actually, for pens, there's no need to take scrapings

The repair is so small the color just gets 'absorbed' (visually, not actually) into the repair spot. By sprinking powdered color bits from your formica to cover the dark hole bottom, yu'll be doing essentially the same thing ... but in your case, we have to actually add color.