Quickie!

[Joints]

Hi guys, haven't seen you in a while!

Just getting the business going now and unfortunately I accepted this little job of making a kitchen unit for where a washing machine once was and the dimensions or not your average hence why I have to make it out of melamine faced chipboard sheets.

Question is: Does this stuff cut ok on a panel saw? I have a rippng blade (30 odd teeth) and crosscut which has around 54Teeth (I think).

Would this crosscut be alright for the job?


Thanks, George

 

[jasonB]

If its sharp the 54T should be OK.

Make sure all the bottom sides of the panels face the outside of the carcase, that way any chipping will not be visible.

Decent MFC is also a lot better than DIY Contiboard

Jason

 

[MikeG.]

No, it won't cut well. It chips horribly. You can try taping up the cut-line, but it won't work. You can try scoring through the melamine, but you'll do well to be as accurate as that requires. It also wrecks your saw blades.......so my view is that you tape up and cut by hand, keeping the angles shallow...........and you'll still be disappointed with the result!!

Mike

 

[orangetlh]

Even your finest tooth saw will chip the melamime on the underside of the cut. There are a few ways to help it, you can

Use masking tape along the cutting edge - bit hit and miss bt will help sightly

Score the cut with a stanly knife - will stop the break out but will require some really accurate machining

Make a small 1mm deep or so scribe cut on the underside and then turn the panel over and cut all the way through. This possibly means removing the riving knife so not ideal.

Use a sacfificial board under the melamime to support the cut.

If it was very important to get the cuts neat then i would probably find a supplier that can machine the pieces to size on a proper panel/wall/beam saw for you.

 

[miles_hot]

Would a up/down router bit work? If you made the fist cut some way (say 5-10 mm) from the final line, possibly with a scored line and then trimmed to the final line with an up /down cutter (or just down if only one side is important)... Would this work? It certainly gave me a great finish on some veneered conti board units for the kitchen...

Miles
Edited to add: you could look at a specialist saw blade - Frud (spelling!) do some which are touted as being for this stuff

 

[trousers]

If its sharp the 54T should be OK.

No, it won't cut well. It chips horribly.

We're all in agreement on this one then :roll:

 

[OPJ]

Use a sacfificial board under the melamime to support the cut.

If it was very important to get the cuts neat then i would probably find a supplier that can machine the pieces to size on a proper panel/wall/beam saw for you.

Assuming you don't have room for a scoring blade, I think this is the best advice so far... Provided you can't 'hide' the worst of it on the inside. :? Set the fence and then feed a spare sheet of MDF on to the saw first; this will provide a 'zero-clearance' fit around the blade that should (in most circumstances) eliminate breakout on the underside. Use a steady feed-rate, also.

Avon Plywood (in Keynsham) may offer a decent cutting service (I don't know of anyone else in this area). But, of course, that would come at an extra cost.

If you're desperate for perfectly clean edges then, a router and straight edge is probably the best way to go, using a straight cutter with disposable carbide blades (Wealden do them). This would then cost you more in time, having to make one cut and then clean it up...

Oh well, rather you than me, George!! :wink:

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you're desperate for perfectly clean edges then, a router and straight edge is probably the best way to go

I agree. A router will give you a very clean cut with no chipping. Take several shallow cuts and don't try to cut it in one go, and butt a spare piece up against the end so that the end doesn't chip out. As you are making only one unit, the cutting won't take very long.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Night Train]

Agreed on the router.

You can rough cut the sheets with the table saw or a circular saw to oversize and then rout to finish.