How best to cut a piece of melamine shelving so it doesn't chip?

I don't see why it wouldn't work on the plywood ones I make.

Jerk. :-p

"Steve Turner" wrote

Hmm. Interesting. *I* think it's just as easy to make another insert.

Max (hate that epoxy smell) ;-)

Seriously? Out of phenolic? Rough-cut to general size on the bandsaw, milled to actual size with a flush-cut bit on the router table, drilled and tapped for leveling screws, drilled for a finger removal hole, a small hole drilled in just the right spot on the back edge to insert a roll pin to prevent the blade from lifting the insert out of the slot, and perhaps extra drilling or cutting for a splitter or riving knife? Mine also requires extra milling on the underside so the insert clears the blade stabilizer and/or arbor nut. All that so you can avoid the smell of epoxy? Whatever...

Jeez Steve, of course all that is easier than squirting out some epoxy, mixing it up, pushing it down into the slot, going out on the back deck with a good beer and waiting all those minutes for the epoxy to cure. sheesh. What were you thinking?

Thanks........

On Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:18:14 -0500, Steve Turner

Well, I like your tip. It's fast, easy and convenient.

What smell? My epoxy is pretty odorless. Polyester maybe? That's what I use (in the form of Bondo).

Steve's idea was great. I'm gonna send it in to XYZ magazine and get the big bucks!

So do it on the back porch, fer pity's sake!

-- Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. -- Jimi Hendrix

Go for it. You can buy me a beer next time you're in Austin. :-)

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have about five different kinds of epoxy around here, and only one (Bondo marine epoxy, which you can't buy any more) has any significant odor (the hardener smells strongly of ammonia), but even that's not noticeable unless you stick your nose right in it.

Thanks. "Fast" of course depends on what kind of epoxy you use. In my experience, the strongest epoxies tend not to be those that cure quickly, particularly those of the "5 minute" variety, so I would normally expect this to be an overnight operation. I recently bought some of this stuff:

------------------------------------- Bingo.

Epoxy is oderless but a total waste of good epoxy for this application.

Lew

A waste of good epoxy? To renew a zero-clearance insert? It takes all of about 1/2 ounce of epoxy to get the job done. Sometimes I have more than that left over from most of the woodworking tasks I use epoxy for.

Plus, you're doing your part to help out the epoxy industry during these trying times.

Cut half the thickness on table saw, and then flip it on the other side

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news:aff878c1-80b9-4597-8975-945c6afbb166 @googlegroups.com:

I've used tape to reduce the chipping and it does help. A sharp blade helps quite a bit too.

The only problem with making two cuts is the final edge isn't likely to be smooth. If you're edge banding, it might be a problem. You may want to make the second cut full-depth to try to eliminate this.

Puckdropper

Puckdropper wrote in news:57a56d40$0$51782$c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

I suspect alex is answering one of these mysterious posts from decades ago, since he didn't quote the original question.

However, another possible solution is cutting close with the saw, then trimming to final size with a router.

John

John McCoy wrote in news:XnsA65C717C2BC1Fpogosupernews@213.239.209.88:

Yeah, I caught that and posted anyway. I'm always happy to see woodworking technique discussed here, even if the original post is old enough to drive.

Puckdropper