I've made some bins for my CD collection (and larger ones
for DVDs) with drawer-like construction techniques. The
front and back are one-inch (nominal) lumber, but for sidewalls
and bottom, I've used tempered hardboard (like we used to call Masonite).

To hold the sidewalls to front and back, a rabbet and glue with some pin
nails does the trick, though assembling it isn't a neat process. Front
and back can take a dado to capture the bottom, but the sidewalls
are only 1/8" thick, so to hold the bottom, I made tab-in-slot features
with several 1" long slots in the sides, and with a dado blade cut into
the bottoms (as a clamped-up stack) to form the tabs.

The problem: hardboard isn't what my tools are intended for. A
1/8" diameter carbide router bit, and a Rotozip-style side-cutting drill,
make ragged slots (and it's not clear that the steel tool isn't overheating).
A table saw leaves a furry edge (OK, that cleans up, by hand, with
some sandpaper, but... it's a nuisance). I can apply a bit of shellac on
the furry edges, then iron them flat with the old Proctor-Silex appliance,
but one must be careful about the glue-surfaces.

Oddly, a brad-point drill makes a perfectly clean cut (to start the slot),
so there's ONE tool that isn't a mismatch to this material.

My two questions:
is there a way to form those tabs that doesn't turn
so much material into sawdust (probably not, but I've gotta ask),
and
HOW can I make a clean slot in what is essentially just heavy paper?
There's metal punch/die sets that could do it, but the supporting
press tooling isn't gonna fit in the basement.

I can imagine a nibbler tool to form the tabs, but bandsaw (I've tried it)
is slow compared to stacks fed to the dado blade in the table saw.

whit3rd wrote:

I've made some bins for my CD collection (and larger ones
for DVDs) with drawer-like construction techniques. The
front and back are one-inch (nominal) lumber, but for sidewalls
and bottom, I've used tempered hardboard (like we used to call Masonite).

To hold the sidewalls to front and back, a rabbet and glue with some pin
nails does the trick, though assembling it isn't a neat process. Front
and back can take a dado to capture the bottom, but the sidewalls
are only 1/8" thick, so to hold the bottom, I made tab-in-slot features
with several 1" long slots in the sides, and with a dado blade cut into
the bottoms (as a clamped-up stack) to form the tabs.

The problem: hardboard isn't what my tools are intended for. A
1/8" diameter carbide router bit, and a Rotozip-style side-cutting drill,
make ragged slots (and it's not clear that the steel tool isn't overheating).
A table saw leaves a furry edge (OK, that cleans up, by hand, with
some sandpaper, but... it's a nuisance). I can apply a bit of shellac on
the furry edges, then iron them flat with the old Proctor-Silex appliance,
but one must be careful about the glue-surfaces.

Oddly, a brad-point drill makes a perfectly clean cut (to start the slot),
so there's ONE tool that isn't a mismatch to this material.

My two questions:
is there a way to form those tabs that doesn't turn
so much material into sawdust (probably not, but I've gotta ask),
and
HOW can I make a clean slot in what is essentially just heavy paper?
There's metal punch/die sets that could do it, but the supporting
press tooling isn't gonna fit in the basement.

I can imagine a nibbler tool to form the tabs, but bandsaw (I've tried it)
is slow compared to stacks fed to the dado blade in the table saw.

Have you tried scoring the cut line with a knife first?

Really sharp tools will help a lot, but most edges are angled for
longevity and not ease of slicing. I wonder if an ATB blade will help?

I usually cut with a saw and just deal with the edges.

Puckdropper

On Monday, August 26, 2019 at 10:54:32 AM UTC-7, Puckdropper wrote:
whit3rd wrote:

I've made some bins ...[with] tempered hardboard (like we used to call Masonite).

HOW can I make a clean slot in what is essentially just heavy paper?

Have you tried scoring the cut line with a knife first?

It's usually a problem on the long-dimension rip on a 4x8 foot sheet,
so the scoring would involve a modification to a table saw (possible, but
messy) or some really long straightedge for guidance.
I'm considering a narrow-kerf blade in a zero clearance throat plate (very thin material,
otherwise I'm uncomfortable with narrow-kerf solutions).

Really sharp tools will help a lot, but most edges are angled for
longevity and not ease of slicing. I wonder if an ATB blade will help?

Yes, a rip blade WOULD be a better (than combo) for this; currently, the plan is
to do those cuts with a track saw, and I'm not sure I have the rip-blade option
in my stack of small blades. It's worth looking into, thanks for the suggestion.
Zero-clearance throat plate in the track saw?

Aerosol shellac on the edges, and a lick with a hot iron, is the fallback solution.
For preference, don't try this with a good teflon surface iron: there's some abrasion.

On Saturday, August 24, 2019 at 4:19:42 PM UTC-4, whit3rd wrote:
I've made some bins for my CD collection (and larger ones
for DVDs) with drawer-like construction techniques. The
front and back are one-inch (nominal) lumber, but for sidewalls
and bottom, I've used tempered hardboard (like we used to call Masonite).

To hold the sidewalls to front and back, a rabbet and glue with some pin
nails does the trick, though assembling it isn't a neat process. Front
and back can take a dado to capture the bottom, but the sidewalls
are only 1/8" thick, so to hold the bottom, I made tab-in-slot features
with several 1" long slots in the sides, and with a dado blade cut into
the bottoms (as a clamped-up stack) to form the tabs.

The problem: hardboard isn't what my tools are intended for. A
1/8" diameter carbide router bit, and a Rotozip-style side-cutting drill,
make ragged slots (and it's not clear that the steel tool isn't overheating).
A table saw leaves a furry edge (OK, that cleans up, by hand, with
some sandpaper, but... it's a nuisance). I can apply a bit of shellac on
the furry edges, then iron them flat with the old Proctor-Silex appliance,
but one must be careful about the glue-surfaces.

Oddly, a brad-point drill makes a perfectly clean cut (to start the slot),
so there's ONE tool that isn't a mismatch to this material.

My two questions:
is there a way to form those tabs that doesn't turn
so much material into sawdust (probably not, but I've gotta ask),
and
HOW can I make a clean slot in what is essentially just heavy paper?
There's metal punch/die sets that could do it, but the supporting
press tooling isn't gonna fit in the basement.

I can imagine a nibbler tool to form the tabs, but bandsaw (I've tried it)
is slow compared to stacks fed to the dado blade in the table saw.

I find myself placing either masking or blue painters tape centered on both sides of the cut line...seems to reduce the rough edges a bit, especially with masonite door undercuts...

On 9/6/2019 12:07 PM, whit3rd wrote:
On Monday, August 26, 2019 at 10:54:32 AM UTC-7, Puckdropper wrote:
whit3rd wrote:

I've made some bins ...[with] tempered hardboard (like we used to call Masonite).

HOW can I make a clean slot in what is essentially just heavy paper?

Have you tried scoring the cut line with a knife first?

It's usually a problem on the long-dimension rip on a 4x8 foot sheet,
so the scoring would involve a modification to a table saw (possible, but
messy) or some really long straightedge for guidance.
I'm considering a narrow-kerf blade in a zero clearance throat plate (very thin material,
otherwise I'm uncomfortable with narrow-kerf solutions).

Really sharp tools will help a lot, but most edges are angled for
longevity and not ease of slicing. I wonder if an ATB blade will help?

Yes, a rip blade WOULD be a better (than combo) for this; currently, the plan is
to do those cuts with a track saw, and I'm not sure I have the rip-blade option
in my stack of small blades. It's worth looking into, thanks for the suggestion.
Zero-clearance throat plate in the track saw?

Aerosol shellac on the edges, and a lick with a hot iron, is the fallback solution.
For preference, don't try this with a good teflon surface iron: there's some abrasion.


Has anyone tried using a Triple Chip Grind (TCG) blade for cutting this stuff?
It works wonders on some materials.