Melamine Tearout

[Jay Albrandt]

Hi all,

I'm building a bathroom built-in cabinet with a melamine interior.
I have always cut dados for shelves with a router and edge guide, but I hate all the set-up, clamping and un-clamping. I was wondering if anyone has a decent dado set that will cut melamine without chip-out (tear-out?)

As always, Thank You in advance for your response!

[Ron Meadows]

I had the 8" Jesada dado set and it cut Melamine pretty well with only a few chips. I recently upgraded to the 8" Forrest Dado King and now I get absolutely perfect cuts. No chipping whatsoever. The Jesada set was around $170 and the Forrest is around $300.

There are two options depending on your ability to live with some imperfections.

Hope this helps,

Ron

[Cameron Hood]

If you don't have a lot of this kind of work to do, there is a way to stop the chipout. Use your dado blade, but just barely raise it above the table--up enough to score the melemine only. After you score it, then raise the blade up to its normal height. It means doing each dado twice, but if you don't have a lot of it to do and you don't want to spend the money, it is a work around.