Replies

1. 
   oldusty | Aug 12, 2008 08:18am | #1

     fh,

        Get some Roo glue , or other Melamine glue first off .
           Use the same joints as for plywood or butt and fasten with glue .

            If you will cover the sides or ends with Oak or other you can cover all your fastener holes on the ends .

           glue and clamp with more Roo or maybe pin nail

                        good luck     dusty

2. 
   RickL | Aug 12, 2008 05:54pm | #2

   Forget the Roo glue...totally unnecessary. Biscuits will be fine. We've made plenty of entire kitchens with melamine and biscuits over the years. Dowels will work also. Even screws and especially Confirmat screws will be fine. Melamine chips easily and the Forest HI-AT does a great job as well as other makers dedicated melamine blades. Triple chip blades and new zero clearance inserts will still allow chipping.

1. 
   oldusty | Aug 13, 2008 04:45pm | #4

   Hi Rick ,

            Sounds like you are recommending the OP uses no glue , I know there are many different brands of Melamine glues , Roo being one of them and the only type I have used but don't you think the glue adds strength overall especially  you said in a kitchen or any other ?

        I have tried to separate two Melamine pieces that were Roo glued together and the glue seam won't come apart so not sure why you feel the glues are not needed and feel the advice may be misleading to someone trying to learn to work with these materials . Surely a little glue is better then no glue .

          regards          dusty

3. 
   PeterThomson | Aug 12, 2008 07:38pm | #3

   Just finishing making my first (and my own) frameless kitchen cabs out of melamine coated particle board.  I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination, but here's what I learned.  'Twas a bit of a trial for me.

   Confirmat screws (more like a threaded dowel) are great, but hard to find.  Particle board screws work great.

   The strength of Roo glue bond seems to be affected by the manufacturer, for some reason (slightly different chemicals?  Don't know).  Found a great bond with melamine PB from one supplier, poor bond with others.  Yes, all were wiped down to remove oil, etc. beforehand.  I wouldn't bother with Roo.

   Biscuits to attach wooden strips to the show edges are straightforward, and work well.

   Tricky to hold down the melamine PB sheets while ripping on the TS, too slick for many holddowns.  Board Buddies are great for this, though.

   The dust is a real bugger!  Have good dust collection set up, and you might want to consider wearing a mask.

   Try to track down "cabinet grade" melamine PB, not the junk from the Borg.  I probably have the terminology wrong, but if they know what you mean you're in the right place.  If they don't know, look elsewhere.

    

   Good luck,

   Pete

    

4. 
   bricofleur | Aug 18, 2008 06:15pm | #5

   Hi,

   I've built base cabinets and drawers (inluding bottoms) for my workshop out of 5/8" Melamine and used 2"-long #8 particle board screws as suggested by Danny Proulx in his books and I had great success (no glue). I'm planning to build my upper cabinets with the same material and screws. Also, since I'm using MDF quite often, I use those screws since the threads are coarse and very effective (even in 1/2"-thick MDF). The must for both material is predrilling to the shank size.

   Best,

   Serge

   - Learn from yesterday, work today, and enjoy success tomorrow -

   http://www.atelierdubricoleur.org

5. 
   Rich14 | Aug 21, 2008 04:07am | #6

   Confirmat screws are the way to go and have been used for decades in the highest quality Euro cabinetry. They simply require the correct size drill bit.

   They (and their drills) are readily available through McFeely's:

   http://www.mcfeelys.com/category.aspx?cat=confirmat-assembly&s_kwcid=confirmat|988023781

   Instructions at:

   http://www.mcfeelys.com/tech/mdf.htm

   Also available at Rockler and Woodcraft.

   Experiment with the screws on scrap first. A straight 5 mm bit in unclad MDF is adequate as the screw head will just bury itself flush with the substrate surface as it is screwed tight.

   In melamine-clad board a straight bit is not adequate as the melamine is too hard for the screw head to properly penetrate and will just crack. A stepped bit is necessary to "counter bore" the melamine skin.

   It's amazing how rigid a structure can be made with MDF and these fasteners.

   Rich

1. 
   larinUP | Aug 21, 2008 04:30am | #7

   I'm making melamine cabinets for my basement and was thinking about using Titebond Melamine Glue - McFeely's item #158237 Description:
   "Titebond Melamine Glue is designed for bonding wood, particleboard, MDF and other porous substrates to synthetic materials such as melamine, vinyl and HPL as well as metals. It offers a fast initial tack, yet has a longer open time that allows for the accurate alignment of working materials."- has anyone used this Titebond product?Larry

6. 
   bigguy717 | Aug 21, 2008 04:53am | #8

   Don't worry so much here is a simple solution. where ever you are going to join board or plywood with melamine finish just remember the finish is not thick. Here is what i do i put a cleat with clamps on the area to be biscuit and glued and get a 3/4" chisel and pull the edge towards you and let the back side of the chisel scrape the finish away than just apply glue and biscuits. You will have a tough time trying to break that joint apart once the glue dries. I use Tiedbond yellow carpenters glue it works great.

7. 
   Terrenord | Aug 21, 2008 10:18pm | #9

   Get a doweling jig and use screws to cinch it up.  Don't use glue.

1. 
   jslo | Aug 22, 2008 05:00am | #10

   I too use 2" coarse thread screws spaced 4" apart on melamine and have never had any trouble. Started out using glue along with screws but quickly eliminated that step. An employee once dropped a cabinet with face frame from table heigth which busted the face frame on the bottom right edge of the cabinet. The cabined box was in good shape, so I just replaced the face frame. I use 5/8 melamine.

8. 
   cmascolo | Aug 25, 2008 10:21pm | #11

   I've made tons of carcases with melamine and I've used equally as many methods of joinery. Depending on their size and function I have used biscuit joinery depending only on the biscuits for strength.

   I've also used biscuits together with removing the melamine layer along the glue joint. Use a straight-cutting bit in the router set ever so slightly as to remove only the thickness of the melamine coating. This exposes the wood for gluing.

   In addition I have used dowels which work well when properly spaced.

   Most recently I tried Confirmat screws and I am totally impressed with the strength of the joint. It took a lot for me to wrap my head around the idea of 'screwing' together the four sides of a case, but I was dealing with such large units (closet project with tall wardrobe units) I needed to assemble them in place during installation. Everything was set up and pre-drilled in the shop, then taken apart, transported to the installation site and re-assembled. Worked like a charm and they aren't going anywhere. My use of these connectors was in MDF and melamine particleboard. Both worked well. You DO need the special drill bit matched to the screw or your joint will fail.

   You can also use spline joints and rabbeted joints. The main problem with these types of joints and using biscuits as well, is the potential to break the joint out during handling or assembly. Melamine is usually a particle board core. It is fragile close to the edge when cut and breaks out easily.

   And, by the way, if any of my former fine woodworking instructors happen to be reading this post and are shocked and appalled by my working with these horrid materials, you will be glad to know that I made the doors and drawers out of solid wood using traditional hand tool methods.