Jigsaw kitchen worktop cutout
Updated: 21 October 2026
You are about to cut a sink or hob opening in a laminate worktop, and a chipped face is an expensive way to learn orbital settings. A jigsaw kitchen worktop cutout on chipboard with a laminate skin is a slow cut at orbital 0, with a fine or down-cut blade, the waste supported until the last millimetre, and the bare chipboard sealed afterwards. Quartz and other stone are not this job. The listings are on the [cordless jigsaw comparison](/hub/power-saws/cordless-jigsaw). Peter F. used UK trade and retailer guides, plus review themes from this set, on 19 October 2026. No worktop was cut for this page. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are about to cut a sink or hob opening in a laminate worktop, and a chipped face is an expensive way to learn orbital settings.
You are about to cut a sink or hob opening in a laminate worktop, and a chipped face is an expensive way to learn orbital settings. A jigsaw kitchen worktop cutout on chipboard with a laminate skin is a slow cut at orbital 0, with a fine or down-cut blade, the waste supported until the last millimetre, and the bare chipboard sealed afterwards. Quartz and other stone are not this job. The listings are on the cordless jigsaw comparison. Peter F. used UK trade and retailer guides, plus review themes from this set, on 19 October 2026. No worktop was cut for this page. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Orbital | Splinter guard | Battery | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Bosch Bosch GST 18V-125 S | 4-stage | Splinter guard in box | Not included | 8.2 | about £207.12 | View offer |
 Ryobi Ryobi R18JS-0 | 4 pendulum steps | Not named in bullets | Not included | 9.5 | about £68.11 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Einhell Einhell TC-JS 18/70 | Pendulum, no stage count | Splinter protection | 2.5 Ah included | 8.5 | about £66.68 | View offer |
On this page
Laminate only, not quartz
Start with the material, because the rest of the method is for laminate-faced chipboard. HSE's guidance on installing stone worktops tells installers to have sink and hob holes cut before the slab arrives on site, and to avoid dry cutting of engineered stone. A fabricator's workshop, with water or suitable extraction, is the place those openings are made. A cordless jigsaw in a fitted kitchen is the wrong tool for quartz, sintered stone or similar solid surfaces. This page does not describe a way to do that cut at home.
Laminate on chipboard is a different board. The face is thin, the core is coarse, and the blade exits through one of those two layers depending on which way the teeth point. You can cut it with a jigsaw if you accept a slow line, a supported waste piece, and a sealed edge. You cannot treat it as any wood, and you cannot leave orbital action on the fast setting you used for a stud. If you are not sure whether the worktop is laminate or stone, stop and read the supplier's description before you mark it. A stone-effect laminate still cuts as laminate. A quartz composite does not.
Mark inside the rim
Use the sink or hob template if one came in the box. If it did not, Wickes' sink guide uses the sink upside down, or a line about 10 mm inside the rim, so the cutout is smaller than the bowl and the rim covers the edge. Wonkee Donkee's jigsaw notes make the same point for an internal opening: you are cutting a hole, not trimming to a finished edge that will be seen. Draw the line on the face you will cut from, and check it against the base unit, not only against the sink. A hole that misses the cabinet rail is a worse problem than a slightly cautious inset.
Drill the corners before you start the jigsaw. BuildWiz's worktop notes use holes in the order of 12 mm or 16 mm so the blade can turn without snapping. A square internal corner is how blades break and how the laminate tears as you twist. Wickes also starts from drilled corners. Put the worktop on supports so the middle can drop a little without binding, or cut it before the top is fixed down if you still have that choice. Cutting a fitted top means you must know what is under the line: a pipe, a cable, or the carcass. Turn the water off before you disturb taps, which is Wickes' sequence, not a jigsaw setting.
Blade and orbital 0
Set orbital action to 0. BuildWiz is blunt about this: pendulum cutting is for speed in timber, and on laminate it chips the face. A higher number does not become safe because you have a splinter guard. In this set the Bosch GST 18V-95 B, GST 18V-125 B and GST 18V-125 S list an anti-splinter guard, and the Einhell lists splinter protection. The guard supports fibres next to the cut. It does not cancel orbital stage 3. If your saw has no orbital control, you are stuck with whatever swing the mechanism has, which is a reason to go slower and to use a finer blade, not a reason to push.
The included wood blade is usually too coarse for the face. BuildWiz distinguishes a reverse-tooth blade, which leaves the top cleaner and the underside rougher, from a ground-tooth blade that is kinder to both faces. Their example is a Bosch T101BR. That is their illustration, not a test run here. Fit the blade with the pack off and tug it, which is the step on how to use a cordless jigsaw, then decide whether you are cutting from the top with a reverse-tooth blade or from the underside with a normal wood blade so the teeth cut into the show face. Masking tape along the line reduces chip-out. It does not replace the blade or the orbital setting. If you only do one of those three, do the orbital setting and the blade.
Support the waste and seal the edge
The waste is heavy. If it falls on the last centimetre, it hinges on the remaining laminate and tears a lump out of the face you just spent an hour protecting. Support it. A helper under the piece, a batten screwed to the waste, or a prop from below all do the same job: the offcut must not drop until the cut is finished. Wonkee Donkee makes that support the point of an internal cut-out. Cut so you are not leaning over a piece that can fall on the blade. Three sides first, then the last side with the support already in place, is the sequence BuildWiz describes.
A cordless pack can die in the middle. A UK review of the DEWINNER kit says the battery went flat halfway through a worktop. That is one 2,000 mAh kit in this set, not a measurement of every 2.0 Ah pack. Have a second charged pack on the side if the saw's platform allows one. The ONEVAN highlight claims up to 30 minutes, and a Fexrror review says about half an hour. Those are a highlight and a review, not a lab runtime. If the saw stops, leave the blade in the kerf until it has stopped, take the pack off if you need to change it, and restart without twisting the shoe.
When the piece is out, the core is raw chipboard. Wickes tells you to seal that edge with waterproof sealant before the sink goes down, because a drip at the rim wicks into the core and swells it. Do that even if the cut looks clean. Then fit the sink to the maker's clips and the bead they specify. If the face has already chipped past the line the rim will cover, the repair is filler and a new top, not another pass with a coarser blade. Which saw to buy, if you have not bought one, is on best cordless jigsaw UK.
Common questions
Which orbital setting for laminate?
Use 0. BuildWiz's trade guide keeps orbital, or pendulum, action off for laminate so the blade does not chop the face on the upstroke. A splinter guard, which several Bosch boxes and the Einhell in this set include, supports the surface beside the cut. It does not make setting 3 safe. If the dial has already been used for rough timber, turn it back before you touch the worktop. A saw with no orbital control cannot be set to 0. Go slower, and use a fine blade.
Do I cut from the top or the underside?
Either can work if the teeth point so they cut into the face you will see. A reverse-tooth blade is the usual way to cut from the top and leave that face cleaner, with more tear-out on the underside, which the carcass hides. A standard wood blade from the underside does the same job if you can flip a loose worktop. BuildWiz separates reverse-tooth from ground-tooth blades. A named blade was not tested in this set. If the top is already fixed, cut from the top with a reverse-tooth or fine laminate blade, at orbital 0.
What blade stops the face chipping?
A fine laminate blade or a reverse-tooth blade, sharp, and locked in the clamp. The coarse wood blade supplied with many kits is for speed in timber. It is the blade people use because it is already fitted, and it is the one that chips the laminate. BuildWiz uses a Bosch T101BR as an example of a reverse-tooth blade. Tape helps. Orbital 0 and a supported waste help more. If the blade will not seat, stop.
How do I mark a sink with no template?
Turn the sink upside down on the worktop, or follow Wickes and draw a second line about 10 mm inside the rim so the cut sits under the lip. Check the line against the cabinet, including rails and pipes, before you drill. Drill the corners at about 12 mm to 16 mm, which is BuildWiz's range, so the blade can turn. An internal square corner is where the blade twists and the laminate breaks out. If the manufacturer gives a template, use that and treat the 10 mm figure as the fallback.
How do I stop the waste tearing the last side?
Support the piece so it cannot drop. A helper, a batten fixed to the waste, or a prop from below should be in place before the last side is cut. BuildWiz's sequence cuts three sides, then the last side with that support. When the waste hinges on a thread of laminate, it levers a chip out of the face. Do not try to catch a falling offcut with the hand that should be on the saw. Restart only when the shoe is flat and the blade is back at speed.
Can I use the wood blade that came with the saw?
You can, and on a show face you will usually wish you had not. The wood blades in these boxes, such as the T 111 C with the GST 18V-95 B or the T 144 D with the GST 18V-125 models, are general timber blades. They cut the core. They are coarse for laminate. Fit a down-cut or fine laminate blade for the opening, with the pack off, and keep the wood blade for studs and sheet that will be hidden.
Can I cut a quartz worktop with this jigsaw?
No. HSE's note on installing stone worktops is that sink and hob holes should be made before the slab is on site, with the controls a workshop uses, including water or suitable extraction. Dry cutting engineered stone in a kitchen is the practice that guidance tells installers to avoid. A jigsaw, cordless or corded, is the wrong tool. If the worktop is quartz or another solid stone product, stop and use a fabricator. The method on this page is for laminate-faced chipboard only.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures in this set. No laboratory cut.
- HSE hand-arm vibration regulations (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- HSE tool vibration table (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- BSI, BS EN 62841-2-11:2016+A11:2024 (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Bosch UK GST 18V-95 B (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Bosch manual table, GST 18V-125 B and S (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Einhell UK TC-JS 18/70 Li (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- RS UK jigsaw guide (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Noise regulations, regulation 4 (retrieved 21.10.2026)