I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

"TD Driver" wrote in message
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Score it first...
Tape the cut lines...
Use a router...

You're choice, suggest you do some test cuts first whichever method you
choose.

TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry


Use a router.

TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

Make two cuts...cut #1 VERY shallow (1/16 or so), cut #2 to depth desired.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

The right blade helps. There are some blades with teeth configured
especially for veneers.
Last time I cut double sided melamine, I had no chipping on either side.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

dadiOH wrote:
TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

Make two cuts...cut #1 VERY shallow (1/16 or so), cut #2 to depth desired.


Just to clarify....
The first cut never goes deeper than the depth of a tooth, right?
This way, there can be no exiting of the tooth, therefore no pulling out
on the veneer?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Dec 25, 2:43*pm, TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. *Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. *Using a zero clearance
insert. *Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. *TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

I apologize in advance for asking the obvious. Are the outside blades
on your stack on the proper side of the stack?
Reason I ask, I had an issue many moons ago where some simple dados in
decent plywood were tearing out rather badly.
I had the right outside blade on the left etc... That made allll the
difference in the world.

On my Freud stack, the outside blades run just a RCH high relative to
the chippers. They score melamine on PB rather nicely before going for
the full depth. Keep in mind that the stack is very sharp. I only use
120 gram melamine, and that helps too. I get minimal chipping.
On the cheaper melamine boards, use a router.

Upon further reflection, I seem to recall that I have had bad luck
with chipping melamine off MDF regardless of tool used. Long time ago.

r

-MIKE- wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
TD Driver wrote:
I need to cut a dado in a hunk of melamine veneered MDF. Trial cut
using my dado set yielded a lot of chip out. Using a zero clearance
insert. Any instruction, tips, hints, to eliminate the the chip out
will be appreciated. TIA and Happy Holidays!!

Larry

Make two cuts...cut #1 VERY shallow (1/16 or so), cut #2 to depth
desired.

Just to clarify....
The first cut never goes deeper than the depth of a tooth, right?
This way, there can be no exiting of the tooth, therefore no pulling
out on the veneer?

Well, the tooth *does* exit else it wouldn't be cutting, would it?

All you want to do is just cut thru the melamine on the first pass so you'd
need to experiment with the depth since blade teeth vary in size, I find
about a 1/16" depth works well.



dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico