cutting melemine covered chipboard

Never tried that.

Using a sawboard generally results in a clean cut without any chipping.

i cut it from the back.cut into the edge that will be seen. a sharp blade in a rail saw helps.or a saw board as in the other reply

pete

Depends on the type of circular saw you are using, scoring as described is a possibility on a table saw. Some better quality table saws have a small b lade in front of the main blade, this smaller blade cuts in the opposite di rection of the main blade scoring the underside where the chipping normally occurs.

With a hand held I think you will find it difficult. One way to minimise ch ipping is put masking tape on the line of the cut.

Richard

Firstly keep in mind that the underside of the cut will be clean anyway

- so if you only need one good face, then cut from the other side of it.

The score and cut technique does work - you don't have to go backward with the saw, it will work in the normal direction too if you are making a very shallow cut:

A sawboard helps - although it tends to suppress chips on one side of the blade only. A cross cut sledge on a table saw also helps.

I cut through it from the rear, using a sharp fine toothed TCT saw, with the depth set about 1/4" more than the thickness of the board. Clamp a piece of straight timber (or nail on if the nail holes will not be visible) to act as saw guide. Don't use the adjustable offset guide on the saw, which never creates such a straight perfect cut).

I've never scored the melemine, but this may depend on the thickness and quality of it.

Clamp scrap material to the good side.

NT

Also stick some tape across the cutting bit as well. However, the main issue we had was the chipboard disintegrating leaving the plastic unsupported. If there is a perfect answer, dunno what it is. Brian

IME two things can help. A decent quality chipboard where there are no mini voids under the melamine and, most important, a sharp blade. The trouble with TCT is it goes on sort of cutting, even when it's blunt.

Depending on your saw, arrange so blade is cutting into the melamine, rather than cutting out from it ... does not breakout that way.

Which for me means Melamine face up on saw table,

Melamine is hard, and a sharp TCP blade is needed .... it blunts blades quickly

and face down if using hand circular saw.

A good blade can cut it cleanly in the wrong direction with no cutting aids. A lousy blade will make a mess unless you clamp something to the face. Other methods may help or not, depends on the blade. Being gentle with cutting forces helps of course.

NT

and use masking tape on it AND cut it from the OTHER side

cut 2mm oversize and finish with a long router bit is the best

Such a blade doesn't exist. If it did all the cabinet shops would scrap their expensive scribing blade saws and switch to it. (if you have ever tried to set up a scribing blade you'd understand why)

My Rexon does just that, much to my surprise. It has a tooth geometry I'd not seen before.

NT

I was shown a German table saw at a kitchen furniture makers. The blade was an assembly of individual teeth retained by socket head screws.

Because it was chipping the finish, an engineer had been sent over to sort it out. No scribing blade.

Tried them all. ATB (alternating top bevel with an intervening flat cut is one of the most popular ) can still cause chipping. The quality of the subs trate be it chipboard or mdf along with the quality of the melamine and the sharpness of the blade all come into play. I have known a white melamine f aced chipboard which chipped out on the top surface of the board on a table saw. But I repeat, there is no blade available which will guarantee a chip free cut on melamine faced board without the assistance of a scribing blad e. You might think you have one. You might get away with it on a few cuts. But get your glasses on and get close, they all chip out. Manufacturers lo ve to claim they have one that doesn't but they're only kidding themselves.

s one of the most popular ) can still cause chipping. The quality of the su bstrate be it chipboard or mdf along with the quality of the melamine and t he sharpness of the blade all come into play. I have known a white melamine faced chipboard which chipped out on the top surface of the board on a tab le saw. But I repeat, there is no blade available which will guarantee a ch ip free cut on melamine faced board without the assistance of a scribing bl ade. You might think you have one. You might get away with it on a few cuts . But get your glasses on and get close, they all chip out. Manufacturers love to claim they have one that doesn't but they're only kidding themselve s.

I didnt say it was guaranteed to not chip, I said it doesnt chip. And it do esnt. I dont doubt there are sheets out there with voids it will.

NT

Brian, yes you are right but it can be tedious. If we have to cut shapes in melamine faced board we first make a template from 4mm plain mdf, mark out the melamine and cut 2-3mm outside the line with a jig saw then replace th e template and finish with a bearing guided replaceable tip router cutter. Chipboard is very hard on router cutters. They have to be really sharp and we found having them re-sharpened was a waste of time.