bunk of melamine moments away from rip-n-zip, but...

[stairman]

about to start cutting a bunk of melamine for a job,  but my new LONG Guide Rail hasn't arrived yet (and won't be delivered until tomorrow)
I have a 55"  + a 42",  and especially with my TS75, they just aren't long enough!

I have got to get going on this job, as it is for a commercial buildout with no tolerance on the completion date.

Has anyone got any tricks they might share for effectively ri[ing full length Mel. with a guide rail that is too short  :-\

I would really LOVE to do all the cutting on the stack and avoid lifting any of these heavy mothers

thanks!

PS,  I have the guide rail accessory kit + an MFT3,  and I was thinking I might use the protractor fence  + the angle device as a starting guide and ending guide,  but thought I would ask, as I am sure I am not the first to run into this

 

[PaulMarcel]

Only thought right now is this... if you are ripping a stack of 3 sheets, put the connected guide rails on the stack as you would if it was full length (i.e., give yourself the 10" leader for the saw).  Clamp a straight board to the stack immediately behind the guiderail (so, the back side furthest from the cut strip).  Make the cut and stop when you're effectively at the end of the rail.  Push the rail forward along the clamped board until 10" or so hang off.  Back up the saw so you can have a clean plunge in the existing kerf and finish the cut.  Wouldn't take much longer on each rip.  The clamped board could be anything straight, even a rip off another Melamine sheet (or a whole sheet until you get an appropriate offcut).

 

[fshanno]

There's absolutely, positively nothing else you can do today and tomorrow morning?

 

[tiralie]

There's absolutely, positively nothing else you can do today and tomorrow morning?

That would be my first option as well.
Changing work flow is never easy, but in this case you may have to do that.
Is there anything else you could be doing now that you planned to do later. for instance in your cut list are there some sheets that will only require cross cutting and then you could get away with the 55" rail?

I would suggest getting some hardwood and or aluminum and cutting it to fit into the rails to attach the 55 and 42 inch rails together but I am not sure those two rails will give you enough clearance at both ends.
Stopping and moving the rail forward against another straight edge as Paul suggests could work, but I have never liked the cuts I get when stopping and starting a cut in melamine.
Good luck. We've all been there.
Tim

 

[Chuck Kiser]

Only thought right now is this... if you are ripping a stack of 3 sheets, put the connected guide rails on the stack as you would if it was full length (i.e., give yourself the 10" leader for the saw).  Clamp a straight board to the stack immediately behind the guiderail (so, the back side furthest from the cut strip).  Make the cut and stop when you're effectively at the end of the rail.  Push the rail forward along the clamped board until 10" or so hang off.  Back up the saw so you can have a clean plunge in the existing kerf and finish the cut.  Wouldn't take much longer on each rip.  The clamped board could be anything straight, even a rip off another Melamine sheet (or a whole sheet until you get an appropriate offcut).

We have a winner. This is the best and quickest approach and should give excellent results.

 

[Wonderwino]

A trick I use when cutting a stack of melamine is to place a strip of DAMP paper towel between layers.  Press down and clamp the rail if you like, but you will find this to be a very stable way to cut if you keep downforce on the saw.  You just about have to pry the sheets apart when you are done.  If you happen to hit the damp towels with the saw, it just cleans the blade. 

 

[stairman]

18 sheets were turned into 54  96" x 15-7/8" uprights,  and I found that making the majority of the cut (until I am within a foot of the end of the rail,  then simply using the blade to index while sliding the rail forward (no guide strip,  although that was very helpful too) worked just fine.  there were only 4 pieces which needed a quick grooming with my long-board- hand file/36g imperial the rest look like they were cut on a tablesaw except no scratches on the bottom face 

now,  I did plenty of gang cutting BUT,  I am debating whether this is truly productive,  or whether I am spending more time trying to line up the sides ???
I THINK I can cut faster by simply cutting a sheet at a time!

there is no doubt now,  that the next accessory I am buying is the PARALLEL GUIDE SET.  I'll venture to say I could have proceeded through my cut lists at twice the speed.

I am also hell bent on picking up another TS55,  as the TS75 is just too big and heavy to wield for 6 hours worth of cutting!

I did run into something unexpected:  cut quality!  and I don't mean this in a good way!
I remember reading something in a thread a while back, where there was a discussion after someone mentioned the TS75 having some wierd runout issue as compared with the TS55 that does not.  I remember thinking to myself "bs"  but now I am retracting that thought,  as I now know for myself what the writer was talking about.

what is the best blade for cutting melamine,  and is it possible to prevent the chipout on BOTH surfaces,  or is a panel saw with a scoring motor the only way to prevent this?
don't get me wrong,  the cuts are BETTER than my table saw makes,  but there is a good side and a bad side on every single cut I made.  -

I RARELY use melamine for anything except shop tables and storage shelves,  -and jigs / fixtures,  -but the next time a job like this presents itself,  I want to be better prepared.

thanks for all the good advice here. 

Wonderwino,  the wet paper towel trick is a really great idea,  it helps a lot!  thanks for sharing that,  but I can't help wondering:  how did you discover this??? !!!

 

[PaulMarcel]

I'm assuming the bad part of your cut is on the offcut side and only on the top?  If so, was the offcut splinter guard pushed down?  It needs to be in constant contact to act as a splinter guard.  Also, on the TS-75, the guard is just the TS-55's guard recommissioned.  That means you need to plunge to (IIRC) 35mm before the blade even touches the guard.  Plunges less than that will not even engage the guard so you'll get surface chipout, especially on Melamine.

Which blade were you using?  I get clean Melamine cuts with the standard blade that came with it.  I bet a high ATB blade would be even cleaner, though.

I came to the same conclusion as you about stacking the sheets when I did a big set of garage cabinets: I spent more time squaring the sliding sheets than it would have taken to just cut them individually.

 

[stairman]

yep,  that's it!,  I tried racking the sheets with pipe clamps,  that was cumbersome and took too long...

then I had my wife come out and help,  that took WAYYY too long and added a few other problems to the mix [bite tongue]  (this is not worth the trouble, and I strongly advise against it!)  [laughing]

so I just went back to cutting 1 at a time, placing 3-4 stickers under the victim-sheet,  although the last several sheets were cut on a MDF Spoil Board,  and this provided slightly better chipout control,  -but not much.

I use the splinterguard and I have it setup right.  it works fine for the face,  it is the bottom that I have problems with  (both my TS75  AND my Robland X31)  -always the bottom face that chips out...

I've been using the general purpose blade,  after experimenting with the couple other blades I have,  but perhaps a different blade type is needed?
I wonder how a triple chip would work  ???

as for "racking" the sheets for gang-cutting,  I can think of MANY different ways to accomplish this,  but none of these would offer any time savings or efficiency advantages.
Quick question about the parallel guide set:
I presume the faces that register against the workpiece are thin?  is this correct?
  has anyone found a way to use the parallel guides to rack 2 or more sheets together for gang cutting?

 

[tbellemare]

Has anyone tried the Solid Surface/Laminate Blade on melamine?

Tom

 

[AlexThePalex]

Has anyone tried the Solid Surface/Laminate Blade on melamine?

I have the blade for my CS70. Works great, chip free cuts on both sides of the melamine board and stays sharp a lot longer than the standard blade.

 

[Wonderwino]

Stairman, having spent some time slicing Prime Rib in restaurant kitchens, an "old" chef showed me early on that placing a damp towel under the cutting board on a stainless steel table stopped it from wandering around as I was cutting.  Water is a catalytic agent that causes friction between smooth and porous surface.  Never do a "dock start" on water skiis if the dock has wet carpet on it.  Don't ask me how I know this!  [scared]