I'm about to build some cabinets out of melamine-coated particle
board. I've never worked with this stuff before and I have two
questions.

First: I want to cover the outside of the cabinets with plastic
laminate to match the rest of the room. But the only melamine I've
seen is at HD and it's coated on both sides. Can laminate be applied
over melamine (with contact cement?) or do I have to find somebody who
sells melamine-one-side-only board?

Second: I'm planning to use dado and rabbet construction, using
regular yellow glue for assembly because all of the joints will have
at least one surface of particle board to particle board. In
searching the group archives, I see references to something called Roo
Glue for melamine, but it sounds like this is for gluing melamine to
melamine, not PB to PB. Is yellow glue in rabbets and dados OK?

Any other thoughts, recommendations or warnings would also be
appreciated


-- jc
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If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net

In article , John Carlson wrote:
I'm about to build some cabinets out of melamine-coated particle
board. I've never worked with this stuff before and I have two
questions.

First: I want to cover the outside of the cabinets with plastic
laminate to match the rest of the room. But the only melamine I've
seen is at HD and it's coated on both sides. Can laminate be applied
over melamine (with contact cement?)

Not AFAIK; not much seems to stick to melamine. You could try it, I guess, and
let us know how it comes out, but I'm not betting on success.

or do I have to find somebody who
sells melamine-one-side-only board?

That would work. So would laminating your formica to a sheet of MDF or
plywood, and fastening that to the cabinet with screws from the inside, or
with clamps and glue (see below for discussion of appropriate glues).

Second: I'm planning to use dado and rabbet construction, using
regular yellow glue for assembly because all of the joints will have
at least one surface of particle board to particle board. In
searching the group archives, I see references to something called Roo
Glue for melamine, but it sounds like this is for gluing melamine to
melamine, not PB to PB. Is yellow glue in rabbets and dados OK?

Yellow glue doesn't stick to melamine. Roo Glue is supposed to, and I imagine
it would bond PB to PB or to melamine too, although I've never used it.
Titebond Melamine Glue does a pretty good job of sticking particle board to
melamine, but IMO the joints should be mechanically reinforced as well. One
caveat with the Titebond product: the shelf life is short (only one year), and
it isn't a real big seller -- so IF you can find a retailer that has it on the
shelf, better check the date code to make sure it's still good. Woodcraft and
Rockler do *not* carry it; try the distributors that supply your local cabinet
shops.

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

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by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

In article ,
John Carlson wrote:

I'm about to build some cabinets out of melamine-coated particle
board. I've never worked with this stuff before and I have two
questions.

First: I want to cover the outside of the cabinets with plastic
laminate to match the rest of the room. But the only melamine I've
seen is at HD and it's coated on both sides. Can laminate be applied
over melamine (with contact cement?) or do I have to find somebody who
sells melamine-one-side-only board?

Second: I'm planning to use dado and rabbet construction, using
regular yellow glue for assembly because all of the joints will have
at least one surface of particle board to particle board. In
searching the group archives, I see references to something called Roo
Glue for melamine, but it sounds like this is for gluing melamine to
melamine, not PB to PB. Is yellow glue in rabbets and dados OK?

Any other thoughts, recommendations or warnings would also be
appreciated


-- jc
Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection.
If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net

I need more info.

What kind of plastic laminate are we talking about?

Dado & rabbet? That will be hard without chipping the melamine.

I can't imagine there being one-sided melamine. In 35 years, I have
never seen it...it would warp, I think.

Screw the thing together and cover the screws with your laminate.
Scuff the melamine first with a rough belt sander, do not gouge. Clean
thoroughly with laquer thinner then use a spray-on contact cement.
After you trim the laminate panel, covering the screws, edgeband the
cabinet edges in situ.

I hope that steers you in the right direction. *G*

"John Carlson" wrote in message
news
I'm about to build some cabinets out of melamine-coated particle
board. I've never worked with this stuff before and I have two
questions.

First: I want to cover the outside of the cabinets with plastic
laminate to match the rest of the room. But the only melamine I've
seen is at HD and it's coated on both sides. Can laminate be applied
over melamine (with contact cement?) or do I have to find somebody who
sells melamine-one-side-only board?

Second: I'm planning to use dado and rabbet construction, using
regular yellow glue for assembly because all of the joints will have
at least one surface of particle board to particle board. In
searching the group archives, I see references to something called Roo
Glue for melamine, but it sounds like this is for gluing melamine to
melamine, not PB to PB. Is yellow glue in rabbets and dados OK?

Any other thoughts, recommendations or warnings would also be
appreciated


-- jc

I'm no expert with the stuff, but I have used a good amount recently.

One side Melamine is readily available from good distributors. Which is to
say NOT the borg. I would search it out because one-sided should be less
$$.

Contact cement works well on Melamine. I suggest solvent based, as I have
sworn off the water based forever. (**** on the Ev-Nazi's)

Polyurethane glues work good on the Melamine surface, although I would not
use it for the laminate.

I would use the polyu instead of yellow in the rabbets and dados. Works
great on the particle board, including the bit of Melamine surface that
inevitably will be part of the joint.

--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

My local supplier sells both single and double sided melamine, same
price $24. The single side has brown paper on the other side. Cheaper
than the Borg and a lot less than Lowe's. Also it's of higher quality
than the Borg's.

Renowood

Robatoy wrote:

I can't imagine there being one-sided melamine. In 35 years, I have
never seen it...it would warp, I think.

A Hardwood lumber outlet in my area has both. The one-sided has the same
finish as MDO or signboard. It's a coated paper face. They also have a
very limited line of wood veneer and melamine. I think the only thing
they carry in that is oak, cherry and walnut.

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 15:21:37 -0500, John Carlson
wrote:

I'm about to build some cabinets out of melamine-coated particle
board. I've never worked with this stuff before and I have two
questions.

First: I want to cover the outside of the cabinets with plastic
laminate to match the rest of the room. But the only melamine I've
seen is at HD and it's coated on both sides. Can laminate be applied
over melamine (with contact cement?)

it'll probably work. do a test.




or do I have to find somebody who
sells melamine-one-side-only board?

Second: I'm planning to use dado and rabbet construction, using
regular yellow glue for assembly because all of the joints will have
at least one surface of particle board to particle board.

yellow glue will *not* stick to melamine.



In
searching the group archives, I see references to something called Roo
Glue for melamine, but it sounds like this is for gluing melamine to
melamine, not PB to PB.

roo glue will stick melamine to about anything.



Is yellow glue in rabbets and dados OK?

yellow glue is fine for PB to PB but not for PB to melamine.



Any other thoughts, recommendations or warnings would also be
appreciated


-- jc
Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection.
If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:58:46 -0800, "Pounds on Wood"
wrote:

I'm no expert with the stuff, but I have used a good amount recently.

One side Melamine is readily available from good distributors. Which is to
say NOT the borg. I would search it out because one-sided should be less
$$.

Contact cement works well on Melamine. I suggest solvent based, as I have
sworn off the water based forever. (**** on the Ev-Nazi's)

Polyurethane glues work good on the Melamine surface, although I would not
use it for the laminate.

I would use the polyu instead of yellow in the rabbets and dados. Works
great on the particle board, including the bit of Melamine surface that
inevitably will be part of the joint.


Thanks Bill (and others). I'll look around for somebody who sells
one-sided Melamine. Gotta be someone around. And I'll take your
advice about the polyurethane glue (that's something like Gorilla
Glue, right?) instead of yellow glue.

If I can get the one-sided stuff then I won't have to laminate over
the melamine. I would use the melamine surface for the inside of the
cabinet and laminate the outside. For that I would expect to use
something like Weldwood contact cement which I've used before with
good results. It's nasty stuff and the fumes scare me, but it works.

-- jc
Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection.
If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net