Melamine vs Plywood Closet?

[David Stone (CT)]

Boulter is a much easier trip since they moved a year or so ago. Now they have both actual parking and a nicely accessible door to back up to to pick up your stuff.

It certainly is a lot easier. Amazing that they stayed at the old location all those decades.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Why not make your own prefinished ply? I take whole sheets, and using an edge painting pad do whole sheet (one side) at the time, using Varathane water based Diamond Gloss Floor finish. After first coat, sand off nibs, and second coat. Dries in about 30 minutes, so you can do multiple sheets in day. Forget about raising grain first. Turn sheet over and do other side.This stuff is tough as nails, so it doesn't scratch when machining.

[Dan Rude]

I built my closets with . Melamine, white and a faux pine print. Trimmed with hardwood to reduce sagging in the shelves. I bought both sheet and shelf material. I started from a closet system I liked and used parts of it. The only issue I have had is the plastic rod holders have torn out over time and then you have to fix it. It just happened in my 15 year old closet. The solution was taking a board and drilling a hole for the closet rod. to go on both sides, need to paint them white. Dan

[Jim Dwight]

I did cabinets for a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchenette in my last house of melamine. I used iron on edge banding. They were servicable and the material is less expensive. The bedroom in the basement was our second guest room and did not get a lot of use but the cabinets worked OK. I made drawer fronts and a door for the vanity out of white washed pine. We thought it went well with the melamine box. I think I did the same for the kitchenette cabinets.

I am also into using water borne poly at the moment. I apply it with a small roller. If i was doing a whole sheet instead of a project, I would probably use a full sized roller. I have a Fuji mini mite 3 stage but rolling is less setup and less cleanup. I like working with plywood a lot better than particle board and would put up with the need for finish just due to that factor. But if you want the project to be white, melamine is certainly a viable option.

Last white project I did was a crib and dresser/changing table (I made the curb removable). I sprayed white tinted Resisthane on it. Resisthane is another water borne product that is very durable and dries very quickly. You can easily prime and shoot on 2 or even 3 coats of finish in a day.

[Rod Dilyard]

I've used melamine for a lot of cabinetry using both a face frame and euro-style though I'm just a hobbyist. Its hard to beat the durability of the surface. I use a triple chip grind blade (Freud LU97R010) with good results and finish the edges with a plastic Tee molding. You'll need to buy one of these, too.
A couple of tips if you decide to go this way:
1) I get really clean cuts if I raise the blade significantly higher than normal which seems very counter-intuitive. Not really scary since it's pretty easy to keep your hands clear when cutting large pieces.
2) Fence and blade alignment have a big effect on how clean the cut is. Unless you have a scoring saw you will have some chipping on the bottom edge. Plan carefully and try to put that edge against another cabinet or wall and flip the shelves as necessary so you can't see it. If the blade is sharp the chipping is minor.
3) I use a wide wooden mallet to drive the tee molding into the groove and then go over it with a small laminate roller to get even seating over the length. The molding will slightly overhang the surface so I use a sharp razor blade to trim the edge flush with melamine, but this is optional. I cut it to length with a sharp 1" chisel after it is seated in place. The tee molding is soft to the touch and quick to install.
4) I use 2 1/2" drywall screws to assemble the cabinets. The key here is to drill a pilot hole that is nearly the same diameter as the threads of the screw and drill it the total depth of the screw. This will keep the melamine from splitting and I am amazed at the holding strength. Experiment with some scrap to get the right combination of drill and screw. I can sink a screw completely through the side without stripping the hole.
I hope this helps and good luck!

[Andrew Wayland]

Boulter is a much easier trip since they moved a year or so ago. Now they have both actual parking and a nicely accessible door to back up to to pick up your stuff. As always they are happy to load it in the truck for you. The bad part is that they are no longer next door to that wonderful Mexican/Guatemalan restaurant in their Somerville location.

Ah; when you said Medford, I just assumed it was the old location. I forgot it was Somerville.

I’ll have to check it out then!

Why not make your own prefinished ply? I take whole sheets, and using an edge painting pad do whole sheet (one side) at the time, using Varathane water based Diamond Gloss Floor finish. After first coat, sand off nibs, and second coat. Dries in about 30 minutes, so you can do multiple sheets in day. Forget about raising grain first. Turn sheet over and do other side.This stuff is tough as nails, so it doesn't scratch when machining.

I like this idea. I was looking at prefinshed first, but this may be the ticket.

[Bruce Wrenn]

To charge paint pad, I pour some varnish into a pie plate, and use it to dip pad into. When done, return excess to container, wash out pie plate and pad. The last time I bought Varathane Diamond gloss, I ordered it thru a "Do IT Best" hardware store, as I could get single gallons, while other sources needed two for shipping

[Dave Sabo]

Why not make your own prefinished ply?

because Andrew already said :

"but I’m in a time crunch to get it done quickly "

[Curt Harms]

1) I get really clean cuts if I raise the blade significantly higher than normal which seems very counter-intuitive. Not really scary since it's pretty easy to keep your hands clear when cutting large pieces.
2) Fence and blade alignment have a big effect on how clean the cut is. Unless you have a scoring saw you will have some chipping on the bottom edge. Plan carefully and try to put that edge against another cabinet or wall and flip the shelves as necessary so you can't see it. If the blade is sharp the chipping is minor.

I haven't done much melamine cutting but what I did I used a blade intended for sheet goods (triple chip grind) and made 2 passes. The first cut mostly the coating. The second pass was a through cut. These were rip cuts so relying on the fence, not a sled or something. I sort of expected a 'step' but there wasn't one, it was a clean as a single pass. Maybe I was just lucky.

[Jim Becker]

I like this idea. I was looking at prefinshed first, but this may be the ticket.

Most good sheet goods suppliers carry prefinished plywood in stock as long as you are fine with maple or birch. Some is available prefinished both sides, too, and shelving stock, prefinished both sides is commonly available in both ~12" and ~15" depths. But if you have a couple of days, doing your own pre-finishing on the species of your choice is relatively easy if you have a heated space large enough that you can roll on waterborne finish as has been suggested.

[Andrew Wayland]

Thanks all,

I guess I should have been a bit more clear on the “time crunch” portion: I have a few months left, but it’s winter here, so to try and finish anything would be a challenge (My old go-to was Arm-R-Seal, but it’s not an option for working indoors at the moment).

Water-borne likely wouldn’t carry the fumes? In that case, I could pre-finish as suggested... or even assemble the cabinets and finish in the room over some drop cloths / hardboard.

[Jim Becker]

Water-borne likely wouldn’t carry the fumes? In that case, I could pre-finish as suggested... or even assemble the cabinets and finish in the room over some drop cloths / hardboard.

Most waterborne products are low- or no-VOC and can be used indoors just like any other waterborne product...like house paint. Temperature matters, of course. And obviously, you don't want to be spraying them without proper ventilation and PPE. But for rolling/brushing on...have at it.