On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
wrote:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William
That is how I cut melamine. On 3/4" stock I set the depth to 7/17" and
flip. If you get a big X then you need to align your saw or improve
your technique. I rough cut everything over size.An advantage
th this method is most all of the sawdust goes to the DC.
Also, you don't need ant special blade, just a carbide
combination. I use an Amana - on sale $20.00.

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

--
The deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount. But nothing
really matters much, it's doom alone that counts. And the one eyed
undertaker, he blows a futile horn. Come in she said I'll give you shelter
from the storm.

You might also try covering your intended cut with masking tape on both
sides before cutting, and use a crosscut blade with lots of teeth.
Good luck,
Andy

Scott wrote:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

Buy a Melamine blade. I've got a Freud that leaves a PERFECT edge on
both top and bottom. It's worth the money, believe me.

Dave

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
scribbled:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking

Luigi Zanasi wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
scribbled:


Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William


In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking
I've got their double sided blade and get ZERO chip out. Same with
their Dado blade.

Dave

Thats a lot of work Luigi,
You may have something out of alighnment with your saw and fence if you are
chipping out on the top also.

80 tooth Triple chip with a 5 degree negative rake will give you a clean cut
top and bottom
Also gives a clean cut crosscutting Plywood .

Good Luck,
George


"Luigi Zanasi" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
scribbled:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and
finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits
the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated.
I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking

Scott wrote:
Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

G'day Scott,
The way I do it is to cut the melamine board 3 - 5mm over size all
around, using a fine tooth tungsten blade.I then set the Buzzer, Planer
at that amount and by running all 4 sides across it end up with an
accurate piece and no chips. This is the way it is done in all small
cabinet shops that do have scribing saws.
Hoping this helps
Regards
John

In article , David wrote:
Scott wrote:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

Buy a Melamine blade. I've got a Freud that leaves a PERFECT edge on
both top and bottom. It's worth the money, believe me.

Yep. I'll second that. The Freud melamine blade, with a zero-clearance insert,
leaves a perfect edge every time.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article , Luigi Zanasi wrote:

In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut.

If you're getting chip-out with that blade, on the *top* of the cut, you have
something mis-aligned in your saw. Or a bad blade. Or bad technique. Or
something.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:31:14 -0700, "George M. Kazaka"
scribbled:

Thats a lot of work Luigi,
You may have something out of alighnment with your saw and fence if you are
chipping out on the top also.

That's what I figured too. Checked it out, it seems well aligned, at
least as much as my dial indicator can tell. I suspect it's probably
vibration or some bearing slightly loose in my contractor TS. Or maybe
it's the quality of board we get here? Chipping was much worse when I
used the cheap shelving as opposed to 4X8 sheets. Or maybe it's the
lack of humidity making the particle board more brittle? Who knows?
Anyway, I try to avoid melamine as much as possible and have no plans
to use it in the future. Last time I used it was two years ago when I
built new desks & shelving in my basement office. I had to do it
rather quickly and get back to work.

80 tooth Triple chip with a 5 degree negative rake will give you a clean cut
top and bottom
Also gives a clean cut crosscutting Plywood .

I do get good results with plywood.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
wrote:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William



some folks get by with a shallow cut followed by a through cut.

the special blades are worth it if you are going to make very many
cuts. I'd say, more than 5.

you can also get by by cutting oversize and trimming with the router.

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:16:52 -0800, Luigi Zanasi
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:06:19 -0500, "Scott"
scribbled:

Hello all Would it be reasonable to assume if I cut melamine board on my
table saw by cutting partial on one side, and flipping it over and finishing
the cut, that I would avoid chipping ? Isn't it when the saw blade exits the
cut that the chipping happens ? Any other techniques would be appreciated. I
am trying to avoid buying a special blade. Thanks William

In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

Luigi


weegee-
try tuning up your fence to dead-on parallel, if it isn't already...

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 11:30:21 -0700, s scribbled:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:16:52 -0800, Luigi Zanasi
wrote:
In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

weegee-
try tuning up your fence to dead-on parallel, if it isn't already...

OK, with everybody telling me to check my alignment, I just did. So, I
pull out the old dial indicator, the calipers & the feeler gauges.
Take out the rip blade that's on the saw, and try to measure run-out
on the arbour & arbour flange with the dial indicator. Looks bang on.

Put the Freud Ultimate Melamine Blade on the saw. Check for run out
using the mitre gauge, a dowel & feeler gauges. Bang on. Then check
whether the blade is parallel to the mitre slot. Maybe a thou or two
off max, I get varying results, so I try a number of times.

Then check the Unifence parallel to the mitre slot. Slight adjustment
required (3-4 thou off the wrong way). It's a good thing, I hadn't
done it in a while, and have moved the fence to the other side of the
blade to make bevel cuts a few times in the last little while, so it's
not surprising it was off. Ensure it's bang on.

Try a test cut on a melamine scrap. Chip-out on top & bottom. So,
thinks I, maybe if I lower the blade, it might improve things. Lower
the blade so just the gullets protrude. Much better cut on top, no
chip-out, but chip-out on the bottom (using a Lexan zero clearance
insert).

Now I remember, I had solved the chipout on top problem way back when
(by lowering the blade and ensuring the fence was parallel), but as I
was using some of it for vertical pieces as legs for the corner desk &
shelving, I needed perfection on both sides. Hence the router use.
Note that I haven't used melamine since January 2004, almost two years
now. However, I could not avoid the chip-out on the cheap shelving
melamine. It still looks like crap and annoys me every time I look at
those shelves.

Anyway, I have successfully avoided using that crap in the last two
years, and hope to continue avoiding it.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking

Luigi Zanasi wrote:
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 11:30:21 -0700, s scribbled:


On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:16:52 -0800, Luigi Zanasi
wrote:

In all my experiments, including using Freud's "ultimate melamine
blade", I have always gotten chips, even on top of the cut. The only
way to avoid them (for me) is to cut oversize and trim with a router
and straightedge. So, in my opinion, FWIW, just use whatever good
blade with lots of teeth you have and then trim with a 1"-long
laminate flush trimming bit.

weegee-
try tuning up your fence to dead-on parallel, if it isn't already...


OK, with everybody telling me to check my alignment, I just did. So, I
pull out the old dial indicator, the calipers & the feeler gauges.
Take out the rip blade that's on the saw, and try to measure run-out
on the arbour & arbour flange with the dial indicator. Looks bang on.

Put the Freud Ultimate Melamine Blade on the saw. Check for run out
using the mitre gauge, a dowel & feeler gauges. Bang on. Then check
whether the blade is parallel to the mitre slot. Maybe a thou or two
off max, I get varying results, so I try a number of times.

Then check the Unifence parallel to the mitre slot. Slight adjustment
required (3-4 thou off the wrong way). It's a good thing, I hadn't
done it in a while, and have moved the fence to the other side of the
blade to make bevel cuts a few times in the last little while, so it's
not surprising it was off. Ensure it's bang on.

Try a test cut on a melamine scrap. Chip-out on top & bottom. So,
thinks I, maybe if I lower the blade, it might improve things. Lower
the blade so just the gullets protrude. Much better cut on top, no
chip-out, but chip-out on the bottom (using a Lexan zero clearance
insert).

Now I remember, I had solved the chipout on top problem way back when
(by lowering the blade and ensuring the fence was parallel), but as I
was using some of it for vertical pieces as legs for the corner desk &
shelving, I needed perfection on both sides. Hence the router use.
Note that I haven't used melamine since January 2004, almost two years
now. However, I could not avoid the chip-out on the cheap shelving
melamine. It still looks like crap and annoys me every time I look at
those shelves.

Anyway, I have successfully avoided using that crap in the last two
years, and hope to continue avoiding it.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking
maybe you bought the wrong blade?

MY Freud is "Industrial - Item No. LU97R010". It cost about $100 IIRC.
It cuts Melamine with NO chip out top or bottom.

I'm guessing you bought one of their cheaper blades??

Dave

On Tue, 01 Nov 2005 08:27:05 -0800, David
scribbled:

maybe you bought the wrong blade?

MY Freud is "Industrial - Item No. LU97R010". It cost about $100 IIRC.
It cuts Melamine with NO chip out top or bottom.

I'm guessing you bought one of their cheaper blades??

Model number is different:LU92M010. I DAGS and they are different
models; yours has 80 teeth & is Teflon coated, while mine has 60
teeth. I paid $140.00 Canadian for mine two years ago, and it was the
most expensive blade available in the store.

Checking on Amazon, my went for $US64.99 and yours goes for $US98.25.

I guess your guess is right.

So for everyone else the lesson is: get the 80-tooth Teflon-covered
Freud blade, not the 60-tooth steel "Ultimate melamine blade" if you
want no chip-out.

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...ct_Woodworking