How to cut Melamine without chipping

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Right now, I'm building, (among other things), a closet for the show.

I'm making most of it out of 3/4" white melamine.

When you cut melamine, the thin decorative coating over the chipboard inner core is prone to chipping.

You quickly realise that running melamine through your tablesaw won't work.

There's a technique you need to learn first.

Here's what you do - Make sure your saw is set up properly. If there are any alignment issue between the blade and the fence, you'll get chip out no matter what you do. Check the blade is at 90* to the bed and make sure that you're using a dedicated melamine saw blade like this one:

Next, you have to score the melamine before you make the final pass.

To do that, set the blade depth to 1/16" to 3/32", so that it doesn't fully penetrate the surface on the first pass. It should just score the surface.

Do that before you make the final pass.

The final pass is equally important. Make sure that the teeth cut in a downward motion into the wood. I like to set my blade at least 3/4" above the melamine for the second pass.

You should now have a clean, chip free cut on both sides.

​Hope that helps... If you'd like to comment or share your thoughts, click where it says, Comments below or click the post title and scroll down to post a reply.

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