Best Laminate Floor Cutters - Top Picks, Reviews & Complete Buying Guide
by Scott Miller Updated on
Installing laminate flooring is something that is even more popular nowadays if you want to make your home look great.
In the majority of cases, people tend to install it alone so as to save some money and develop skills.
The only way of doing it is by having a laminate floor cutter.
If you want to shop it online, you may encounter numerous models available and you cannot decide which model is right for you.
Those inexperienced users will not be able to tell which parts of a product description offers useful information, so we decided to help you.
We have created the reviews of the best laminate floor cutters and a buyer’s guide to show you everything you need to know about laminate floor cutters before you buy one.
We always start our reviews with the best of the best and the Roberts 10-64 Multi-Floor Cutter is definitely our top choice.
If you are planning to be putting down a lot of flooring of different types this is without any doubts the ideal model for you.
Users could not but appreciate the fact that this machine can cut vinyl flooring and siding, VCT tiles, laminate, engineered wood, and rubber or foam tiles.
Furthermore, it can cut flooring up to 5/8-inch thick which is considered more than enough.
The positive side is a long handle which makes cutting even tough materials easy.
The blade is removable in order to be resharpen when needed, or replaced.
What users found as a drawback is that the tool chips the edges when it cuts, but this is not considered a big problem for most people.
All in all, this is amazing laminate cutter for home or commercial use.
The EAB Tool Exchange-a-Blade 2100005 features manual operation and 9-inch capacity. Let’s first speak about its advantages.
The tool comes with an angle gauge, which makes it one of the few manual floor cutters that allow you to cut angles into your flooring.
On the other hand, this tool does not include a full stabilization plate, making you unable to hold your flooring as stable while you cut.
There are also some quality control problems, affecting the tool durability.
The perfect cuts are not possible on every material, and this model tends to have chipping problems.
We believe that these are significant reasons to set this model on the fourth position.
The disadvantages also affect the price which is very low.
This is not the unit designed for doing a large project, but for smaller tasks it can be taken into consideration among the people with limited budget.
The D-CUT PL-215 has some features that other above mentioned tools do not have.
The first one is an exposed blade with a long handle that allows you to cut your flooring like you were using a long kitchen knife.
Furthermore, you can cut flooring at any angle with it.
Manufacturers claim that the blade would never wear out, due to the fact that the machine relies on force more than sharpness.
Additional disadvantages which affected our decision to put it on the last place are difficulties to stabilize your flooring while you cut, due to the lack of a large stabilization plate and quality control problems.
If you are using the extreme force so as to make this model work may break it instead. Our suggestion is that you should consider other models.
We are aware of the fact that finding the model that is right for you is a difficult task and we hope that you gathered enough information related to these units.
If you still have unanswered questions, we offer you this buyer’s guide full of information about laminate floor cutters which will provide you with the knowledge about this tool if you have never installed your own flooring before.
Which one is better: electric or manual?
The majority of the models we mentioned were manual models.
The only one was an electric model and we now want to show you what the differences between them are before you make a decision which one to buy.
Manual floor cutters use a blade and a long handle.
The physical strength of the user is the one that makes the cutting, and if you cut a lot of flooring the blades might wear out and chip your flooring near the cutting edge.
The positive side of these units is that they are quiet relative to electric models and do not produce dust.
On the other hand, the electric floor cutters produce a lot of dust with their sawblades, and are very noisy.
The advantage of using them is that the task will be done faster as they cut very quickly and they come with more options.
Some users appreciate them as they do not rely on your physical strength and will not wear you out quickly.
What should I know about the ease of use?
As it is the case with every tool, some models are easier to use than others.
We would like to tell you that electric models are easier to use than manual models, due to the fact that you do not need to use your physical strength.
On the other hand, they are noisy and require more cleanup being that they produce far more dust.
If we speak about manual models, they are easy to learn how to use them, but they also come with differences among them.
The width of the blade from model to model varies, so make sure to get the one that can support the flooring you are planning to work with.
You might have to work with another type of flooring in the future, and if that flooring is too narrow, you are going to need a new model.
The greatest models are those that allow their blades to be removed and sharpened or replaced.
That way you will save your time and money, as you will not have to buy a new unit, but can sharpen the blades yourself.
Supported flooring materials
As you might have noticed in the above mentioned descriptions, the flooring materials supported by each model vary widely.
What you need to do when this feature is in question is to consider the distance between the blade and the stabilization plate.
That would represent the maximum height of flooring that you can use.
More expensive flooring types tend to be thicker, while some models do not have the force to punch through denser materials.
You need to make sure your chosen flooring is among the listed supported floorings before you buy the exact model.
The best solution is to buy a floor cutter that supports a large variety of flooring materials, but this is wise investment only if you are a professional.
The blade is not the only thing that makes it easy to hard to punch through tougher materials.
The handle also has its role, as it delivers the force to the blade matters.
You should know that the knife-style flooring cutters are not as efficient as guillotine-style cutters.
How can I determine which laminate floor cutter is right for me?
We cannot determine which model is the right for you, as you are the only one who knows your own needs and expectations.
Even though we say that the first place model on our list is the best, that one might not be the right one for every person.
So as to find the perfect tool, you need to know your needs and a budget.
The fact is that different models will serve different people better and you can start by determining which flooring you are going to be working with.
If you are not planning to use it frequently, you do not need to waste your money on those expensive models which cut all types of flooring.
You should make a short list of models that can cut that exact flooring, determine whether you want an electric or manual operation and determine which price is suitable for you.
If the model you have chosen has all the features you need, it would not be a mistake even if it is the cheapest one.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, we can state once again that the Roberts 10-64 Multi-Floor Cutter is our favorite model.
This is so due to its blade that you can resharpen and its wide range of supported flooring materials.
The Bullet Tools ES00-0009 is quite similar in terms of performance, but has inconsistent cuts.
The SKIL 3601-02 Flooring Saw is the best value for the money as it is an electric saw which will do the job faster, but the dust and noise it produces made it only our third pick.
The EAB Tool Exchange-a-Blade 2100005 comes with an angle gauge and quality control problems just as the D-CUT PL-215 which requires a lot of force to use.
After you have read our reviews and our buyer’s guide, we are sure that you now have the idea which tool you should go for.
Great advice, I bought the EAB Tool recommended here and I have no regrets! this thing works as intended and is very easy to use, very precise.
Thanks for the reference, cheers.