Edge Banding Melamine

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of making garage/shop cabinets using melamine for the doors only. I'll probably make the carcasses out of 3/4 ply. I was wondering how you edge band melamine? I've edged banded ply with solid wood but never this stuff.

Any suggestions on this and making storage for the garage/shop much appreciated. Thanks.

[Jim Becker]

You can edge band it with anything from solid wood to iron-on melamine edge banding. What "look" to you want? The material you are thinking of is just particle board with a very, very thin plastic layer, usually in white.

[John Bush]

Hi Alan,
I recently made cabinets for my garage using 3/4" melamine and used the iron on edgebanding material. Very easy to use-I used my ski waxing iron to apply heat and pressure with and a utility knife trim the edges. Use a good blade to cut the melamine, as it chips easily and has a a less than ideal appearance when banded. otherwise it is quick and easy. Good luck, JCB.

[Hoa Dinh]

The iron-on edge band works and is easy to apply. But I don't want to use it unless I have to. You can't dress the edges so they chip easily. For shop cabinets, I prefer something more durable - hardwood edging. It doesn't need to be thick, 1/4" is good enough. I put a small round over or chamfer on the edges. A few coats of wipe-on poly for the edging are all you need.

Why do you use 3/4" plywood for the carcasses? Why not melamine with hardwood edging? Melamine is heavy, but how often do you move shop cabinets? Moisture is bad for melamine, but with hardwood edging, it's sealed. It's bright, easy to clean and to keep clean, and doesn't require finishing.

[frank shic]

alan, make sure that you've got a decent laminate cutting blade (not the forrest woodworker 2) with a NEW zero clearance insert installed just for that blade to minimize the edge chipping. get some melamine edge banding tape which is available from home depot. stretch out a length slightly longer than the width and snap off the excess with a flick of your thumbnail. use your wife's iron to iron it on the edge and try not to burn your fingers or hand. flip the piece so that the edge is now facing down on your workbench but make sure that there are no chips lying around that will dent the melamine edge banding. use a utility knife and make several cuts across the ends. use a $20 edge banding trimmer from rockler and squeeze it gently (not so tightly that the trimmer doesn't move!). and drag it across the length of the piece. lay the piece flat and get out the block plane to get the edge banding trimmed tight to the melamine edges.

last piece of advice: if you screw up, run the iron over the edge banding again and peel it off!

one question: are you sure that you don't want to make the carcasses out of melamine as well? they'll match much better and you can eliminate the need for face frames by just edge banding the exposed edges. you can use 5/8" material to cut down on the weight somewhat. lastly, you can join them together very easily with biscuits or confirmat screws.

[Tim Solley]

When I made the melamine top for my router table, the top chipped badly off the tablesaw. My solution was to cut it just slightly large, maybe an eighth of an inch. Then I used a straightedge and trimmed it with a straight bit in my router. That left a clean edge on the melamine.

As for the edge banding, I put an inch or so of oak all the way around. I used dowels to join it, though I now have a biscuit joiner and would probably use that now instead.

Tim

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks guys,

To answer your questions? As far as using 3/4 ply for the boxes, I guess I'm just familiar with it. I've made some shop cabinets in the past and used my Kreg jig to assemble.

I've never worked with melamine before so I'd have to get confirmat screws and learn a new technique. But the idea of not having to paint the cabinets when they're done is definitely appealing. Do you think melamine cabinets will be heavier than 3/4 ply? How about gluing a back on; what glue to you use if you're gluing to melamine? I wouldn't cut a rabbet in the back for shop cabinets, just glue and nail. What do you think?

I'd like to hear your methods/materials you use for your shop cabinets.

[Tim Solley]

Thanks guys,

Do you think melamine cabinets will be heavier than 3/4 ply?

Oh man, that stuff weighs a ton! I can easily get a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 plywood on to my sheet cutting setup by myself. But that melamine sheet was so damn heavy I had to use a mechanics creeper to move it to an open area and just cut it laying on some 2x4s. So yes, your cabinets will be significantly heavier.

Tim

[Hoa Dinh]

3/4" thick melamine, IIRC, is 3 lb./sq. ft.. 3/4" thick plywood is about 2 lb./sq. ft..

For carcasses, 5/8" thick melamine can be used. The cabinet will be accordingly lighter.

There is melamine glue (do a search for "Roo Glue"), or you can use poly glue. But for carcass, I use biscuits and yellow glue. Cabinet backs (and drawer bottoms) are 1/4" thick melamine in rabbets (cabinet backs) or dados (drawer bottoms).

I've heard good things about Confirmat screws but never used them. Biscuit joins are fast and sturdy enough, I don't want to have to worry about another kind of hardware.

[Steve Cox]

Confirmats are great but I used biscuits and yellow glue for my shop cabinets. 3/4" euro boxes with 1/4" hardwood edging both for the boxes and doors. French cleat on the wall and everything is just fine.

[frank shic]

alan, i would highly recommend the 5/8" thickness melamine. you can use the pocket screws to not only assemble the case but also to attach the back but make sure that you use coarse threads and also make sure that you clamp TIGHT since the pocket screws which tend to shift somewhat will definitely encounter some extra resistance trying to penetrate the top layer. the biscuits are the next quickest method if you don't want or have a confirmat drill bit. in addition to not having to finish the case parts (except for the aforementioned edge banding) the stuff is far cheaper than plywood!

[Guy Germaine]

You can also make your own edge banding. I made a shop cabinet out of melamine last summer. You need a zero clearance insert and a sharp blade, but I set my rip fence to take JUST the melamine off of a 3/4" wide piece. Then using yellow glue, spread a thin layer on your new edge banding and let it sit for a half hour or so. Just until it's not tacky any more. You can then use your wife's iron to iron it on like any other banding. I did this almost a year ago and the banding is still tight.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks guys for all the great ideas. I'm going to try bisquits and yellow glue and hard wood edge banding. I was going to do French cleats as suggested. Thanks for all the great ideas.

One last question: Do you use 4x8 sheets of melamine or the narrow shelf like material. I think I saw some 14" x 8' stuff in the borg which would be easier to handle. It's edge banded alreadly I think on three maybe four sides. This might allow me to assemble a carcass without edgbanding. Anybody use this narrow material instead of 4x8 sheets. Thanks

[frank shic]

alan, i used the 5/8" 4x8 sheets (actually 49x97) but that's just because i like to torture my body. a more sensible soul would use the stuff that's already cut in half and already edge banded. you'll notice that the factory applied edge banding is superior to what you could achieve on your own - plus it's a lot quicker, just slightly more expensive. if you want to skip the french cleat, you could simply apply a 5/8" thick back to your cabinet and use some cabinet hanging screws from mcfeely's which actually have painted white heads to match the melamine and are 3" long.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Frank, Thanks so much for all the info. The 4x8 sheets sound like torture; I hate any 4x8 sheet material. You've been a great source of information.

Thanks again to all who replied to this post.