Kitchen benches

[George]

I am contemplating smaking some melamine carcass kichen cabinets.

What sort of finish do you get on the cut edges of the melamine with a standard saw (ie no scribing blade)? Is the chipping acceptable or would I be better off paying a cabinet shop to cut all the panels?

George

[soundman]

Re melamine finish george

If you have a nice fine blade that is sharp od a true running saw one side should be beautifull & the other a bit chipped.

If you are keeen cut a but past half way & the turn it over ant the finish should be reasonably sweet due to the angle of slice.


grab a lump & try!???

[ndru]

George

Re chipping: Try cutting the board to size + 5-10mm using an ordinary blade (ie 60-80 TPI, TCT). You will almost certainly get chip out. Then grab a router/trimmer fitted with a straight bit and clean up the edge down to the dimension you need. You'll probably need a decent straight edge to run the router against, or use a table mounted router with a decent fence. Of course, this assumes you have a router handy, and are willing to spend the extra time cleaning up edges.

I haven't tried this myself, but it was recommended in Danny Proulx's book on building kitchens. I also discussed it recently with a friend who works in a furniture factory and he thought it was a good idea. I'd recommended running a test piece of board with a generous margin of error to see how much chip out occurs and how much routing/trimming is required.

[barrysumpter]

Jeez Gents,

Thanks for all the specifics on measurements.
And the name of the book.

Iain, you're my woodworking hero.

I've been wanting to replace non laminated particle board wardrobes for quite some time. The Edwardian ones. And fit out a really large laundry room with more storage.

I've got a great family friend who has built his own 35 square house and has passed on the following link for laminated 8'x4's.
Which he has paid $60AU per sheet.
http://www.amerind.com.au/

Could someone please tell me if this is decent stuff and if the price is right?

He was also saying that the stuff is so cheap that when he needed thicker material he'd just glue two pieced together.

Would that be advisable?

Also he would start with a 2x4 base to place the cabinets on. Which would fit the 4" kickboard. I haven't got the detail yet but he was saying he'd cut the entire length of the 4" to level the base and NOT wedge offcuts at the ends to level it. Does that sound right?

------------------
Thanks,
Barry G. Sumpter
Proud Tritoneer
Triton Woodworkers Club Holmesglen

[This message has been edited by barrysumpter (edited 08 February 2003).]

[Justin]

Hi Barry,

From my memory of calling Amerind a few months ago they charged by the square meter, with the price based on what veneer and substrate was used. (Also I think they quote ex-GST)

I'd give them a call and check. I might be wrong, but my recollection is that 2400x1200 boards in 19mm particle board came up at around $90-100 for common Aussie species veneers.

Good luck with your project.


Cheers,


Justin.

[MF3106]

Hi all

A couple of points, and one question

- I'm about to build some internal robes to a walk in robe that's being constructed. I'm going to purchase the melamine board from AllBoards in Bayswater Melbourne. A 8' x 4' x 16mm will cost $33 - and they will cut to within 1mm accuracy for $1 per cut. No chips out is expected as they use machines and CNC routers costing $$$ hundreds of thousands. They also make carcase kits which many cabinet makers use. By the way the board is moisture resistant chipboard (you can tell it is by the little green speckles in the board) - ideal fore kitchens / bathrooms.

- They will edge for you (or you can do yourself) a couple of options - either standard melamine (about 1/2mm thick) - which over time could well chip with usage. Or you could go for 2mm thick PVC which is colour matched - will not chip - looks really good, and is what many wardrobe / cabinets have now.

Hope this helps, particulaly the cutting - yes I could probably do it myself - but I recon with what I'm saving over and above getting a wardrobe company to fit it's probably worth it for both the quality and the fit.
wardrobe company to fit

My question is

- what's been your experiences with fitting the self closing hinges. My next project could be cupboards in the laundrey - but I am a bit nervous about fitting those hinges - seems to me that you have to get the holes aligned almost perfectly - otherwise it will be a mess.

Look forward to your input.

Malcolm

[George]

My limited experience with the hinges has been positive. You get a template for marking the holes. The hinges have several adjustments you can make once the door is fitted, so they are fairly forgiving.
George

[chrisjon65]

im saddened to see you guys being charged 1dollar a cut gents please........
do your cutting list and take it to your local joinery or kitchen builder im sure they would do some stuff a lot cheaper and you will be amazed what they do for a carton of ale .....
THIS DOLLAR A CUT STUFF IS ROBBERY
get to know your local joinerys they can help ...
i know cause i work in one and ive always got time for the local woodys
cheers chris