Working with Melamine
Links, Notes, and Recommendations
(Click picture for more information)
Building Woodshop Workstations, by Danny Proulx
This book has a lot of great ideas for making shop cabinets and workstations from Melamine. I have made several of his workstations, some exactly as his plans, and others modified to meet my specific needs. All my shop cabinets are made from Melamine.
One note on this book: It recommends using 5/8 " thick stock to save cost, but check prices first. You will probably find that 3/4 " is not much more and may even be cheaper. Venders sell mass quantities of 3/4 " which drives down the price.
Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets, by Danny Proulx
Another great book from Danny Proulx. As well as showing the basic of constructing cabinets using Melamine Particleboard, this book shows you how to combine casework made with Melamine Particleboard with traditional face frame cabinetry. Great if you or your client prefers face frame style cabinetry, but at the same time want to take advantage of the cost, cleanliness, and speed of construction of casework made from Melamine Particleboard.
Building Frameless Kitchen Cabinets, by Danny Proulx
Another one-of-a-kind book from Danny Proulx. If you prefer frameless "Euro" style cabinetry (as opposed to face frame cabinetry), then this is the book for you. It has a lot of the same basic information as the "Build Your Own Kitchen Cabinets" book, but focuses on the specifics of frameless construction. I personally tend to lean towards frameless cabinetry for many applications, like shop and kitchen cabinets.
Freud LU79R010 Thin Kerf Ultimate Plywood & Melamine Blade
This is not the exact Freud blade that I have, but this one is more reasonably priced, and is advertised to work on plywood as well. If you are planning to do just some work with Melamine, say building some shop cabinets, this blade may be the ticket.
Freud LU97R010 Double Sided Laminate and Melamine Cutting Blade
I believe that this is the exact Freud blade that I have. I little more expensive, but it is advertised to make clean cuts on both sides. However, I find that nothing beats scoring cuts for a crisp edge on Melamine. This blade may be worth the extra bucks only if you are in a hurry and do not want to bother making scoring cuts on both sides of the Melamine.
Tenryu Melamine blade
This is the Tenryu Melamine blade that I have. I cannot find it available in too many places on the internet, but you can check locally. I think I bought mine at Woodcraft. The model number is ML-25580AB
Forrest Duraline Melamine and Plywood Cutting Blade
Although I have not tried this particular blade, I have other blades from Forrest (Woodworker 2), and I love them. In all fairness, I must mention that some folks consider Forrest blades overrated, but I personally find them worth the price tag. If I had to buy a new Melamine blade and money was no issue, I would seriously consider this blade.
Roo Glue
I cannot find Roo Glue, the glue that I use to glue Melamine to Melamine, and Melamine to wood, at any of the usual online Woodworking retailers, but check the Roo Glue Website (click on the picture) for more information. Also check for local warehouses that cater to cabinet makers. There are two places local to me where I get mine.
McFeelys Screws
I get my hardened screws from McFeelys. My main screw for assembling Melamine cases is the 2-1/4" dry lube. I also keep other lengths, such as 1-1/2", 1-1/4" and 1" around for other applications, like fastening drawer faces to drawer boxes, but by far I use 2-1/4" the most. McFeelys also offers the same screws in a variety of other finishes, as well as many special application screws.
Titebond Melamine Glue
I noticed that Titebond makes Melamine glue. I have not tried yet, so I do not know how it stacks up against Roo-Glue. At least it is available at Woodcraft.
FastCap Fastbreak Edger
I saw this gadget at Woodcraft, and am thinking about trying it out. I do break the edges on the edge banding, and this may be worth the cost to speed up that process
Laminate Trimmer
This is a nifty tool for making quick work of trimming edge banding.