How to cut Masonite board?

[CHRIS SANTOS]

Hi all

Anyone know what kind of saw or method I can use to cut Masonite board? I have an large artist's sketching board made of Masonite that I want to make smaller, so it can fit into my portfolio (I am an art student). It's pretty firm. A friend of mine is into woodworking and he has lots of powertools and saws. Which one should I tell him to use? Would I then have to sand down the edges? With what? Sorry, I am not that proficient in woodworking.

Thanks!

[Howard Acheson]

Any power saw can be used to cut masonite (hardboard). If using a table saw, I would use a 40 or 50 tooth 10" general purpose carbine blade. Any blade with 40 or more teeth will work just finish. Masonite will not harm a carbide tipped blade.

[Roland Chung]

Ask your friend to cut it with a table saw if he has one. It will probably be better if he drops the blade down to about a half inch over the material, but watchout for kickbacks if he is not using a blade guard or splitter. If he is a real woodworker, he will already know this - we know everything!

The edge will be straighter and more uniform using the table saw. Lightly sand the top and bottom of the edges to make it look more like the other 3 sides.

[glenn bradley]

Table saw. More teeth the better on the blade but 40 - 80 should be fine on a 10" blade. I then chamfer the edges on a router table (or by hand depending on your friend's tools) and touch the edges up with some 220 grit or finer sandpaper just so thing stay clean.

If you're doing oils or acrylics, you can wax the board with paste wax to make it easier to clean up. If this is expected to be around awhile, you can finish the whole board (both sides and edges, after machining), with shellac or poly before waxing.

[CHRIS SANTOS]

Thanks Gentlemen, for all your advice. I appreciate it.

Chris

[Kevin Foley]

I'm only posting to this old thread because it comes up in Google when queried about cutting masonite. Another option -- 14 point crosscut.

501644

[Bill Dufour]

After the cut an easy way to round over the edge is to rub it on a concrete sidewalk. Similar rotating and wiping motion to putting ink on a plate.
Bill D