Cutting melamine laminated chipboard with the Festool TS-55

[arso_bg]

Hi everybody,

Cutting melamine laminated chipboard with the Festool TS 55 can be sometimes tricky. Especially if the quality of the chipboard is not really good you are in troubles.
I use mainly melamine laminated chipboard for my projects. So trying to improve the results with my Festool TS 55 is a second nature for me. Last week I received a new TENRYU saw blade and this was the reason for me to make a quick test.
For the test I used:
1. TENRYU PSL-16048ABM2. A 48T saw blade specially developed for cutting Melamine on Festool TS-55 Plunge Cut Saw. Kerf 2.0 mm.
2. Maffel saw blade - art. # 092584. A 48T universal saw blade for cutting sheet goods. Kerf 1.8 mm.
3. CMT art. # 296.160.56H.  A56T saw blade recommended for aluminum and laminated chipboard. Kerf 2.8 mm.

I have cut a piece of scrap melamine laminated chipboard. The quality of the chipboard is fairly bad and it is dark - mahogany, what makes all chippings more visible and the task more difficult.

Some considerations:
1. When you use saw blades with different kerf on the same guide rail it is quite normal that the rubber stripe gets worn out. So was mine.
2. I did not use the green splinter guard on the right side of the saw.
3. I always cut in two passes.  First a shallow 4 mm cut and than I cut the full depth.
4. The TENRYU saw blade is brand new while the Maffel saw blade and the CMT saw blade are slightly used although in very good condition.

The saw blades:

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Top side:
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From the left to the right
First cut - CMT saw blade. Almost perfect picture. Some minor chippings on the right side. If used with the splinter guard on the right side the result will be just perfect.
Second cut - Maffel saw blade.  This is definitely the worst one. Most of the chippings are on the right side of the blade, so the use of the splinter guard on the right side would improve the results.
Last one - TENRYU saw blade. Almost perfect picture. Minor chippings on the right side on two places. If used with the splinter guard on the right side the result will be just perfect.

Bottom side
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From the left to the right
First cut - CMT saw blade. There are some minor chippings, left and right.
Second cut - Maffel saw blade. This is definitely the worst one.
Last one - TENRYU saw blade. Absolutely clean cutting line. When you put the two pieces together you can hardly notice the cutting line. I would say it is just perfect.

I will definitely pick up the TENRYU saw blade for my next project.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I've had decent results from the fine Festool blade (the blade that comes with the saw). It might have been nice to see it included in your test. The real test for a blade isn't just the results from the first few cuts, rather how long it can produce those results cutting melamine. Melamine dulls blades quickly, lets us know how the Tenryu lasts. 

 

[Mike_Chrest]

arso,
  Thanks for the test. I have been thinking of getting a Tenryu melamine blade.  I second Brice's suggesting of including the Festool bade in the tests for comparison.

  Also if you are willing to post another, how good is the cut with out the 4mm scoring cut?

Mike

 

[arso_bg]

Well, about the 4mm scoring cut

I did not include any pictures of the 4mm scoring cut because according to my experience these cuts are always just fine. And this is valid for all saw blades including the fine Festool blade. If problems occur this is during the second full depth cut.
This is my conclusion, based not only on the tests today, but based on my all experience with melamine laminated chipboards.

Regarding the fine Festool blade - why it is not included in the test.

There are many reasons for that.

First of all - most FOG members have such a blade and have some experience with it. I just thought that it might be interesting for them to see the results of some different blades.

Second - my experience shows that the CMT and the Maffel saw blades perform much better than the fine Festool blade. I have to agree that I also had decent results with the fine Festool blade (after it is freshly sharpened) but it gets dull quite fast and then my results become fairly poor. Another very important point here is that the quality of the cut is very dependent on the quality of the laminated chipboard itself. I have to say here that I never could achieve decent results cutting low grade chipboard with the Festool fine saw blade. I hope no one is offended here.

At the end I have to state, that I totally agree that this is not a real test. I understand very well that a few cuts are absolutely not enough for a real test. Actually this so called 'test' I have made entirely for my own needs. After some hesitation I decided to post this information just as a hint for those FOG members that might experience some problems similar to mine.

Regards
A.G.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Thanks for taking the time to post this test, I know I wanted to see how the Tenryu performs. 

......Regarding the fine Festool blade - why it is not included in the test.

There are many reasons for that.......

My reasoning to include the Festool blade is because everyone does have one and it would give us a great base line for comparison.

.....I hope no one is offended here.....

I can't see why we'd be offended, I think this site have proven time and time again that the members here want to what other products have to offer.

 

[arso_bg]

My reasoning to include the Festool blade is because everyone does have one and it would give us a great base line for comparison.

OK! That's correct!

There is still one piece of the chipboard left and there you have a cut with the fine Festool blade.

The blade is almost new, but used. I would say it is still in a good condition
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The top side

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Some chippings left and right

The bottom side

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[lordinteriors]

hi everyone

interesed in your posts i thought i would contribute something i fit alot of bespoke hardwood kitchens but also do alot kitchen fitting i have a t575 with fine tooth festool blade and like you stated i usually also make a scoring cut and then make a full depth pass and have always achieved excellent results. i cant think what is making your results so bad

lee

 

[Mike_Chrest]

and there you have a cut with the fine Festool blade

Wow, that's pretty rough. :-[ Top looks OK.

 

[arso_bg]

hi everyone

interesed in your posts i thought i would contribute something i fit alot of bespoke hardwood kitchens but also do alot kitchen fitting i have a t575 with fine tooth festool blade and like you stated i usually also make a scoring cut and then make a full depth pass and have always achieved excellent results. i cant think what is making your results so bad

lee

Hi,

Having myself some doubts that there could be something wrong with my TS 55 I let it be checked at Festool Bulgaria just two months ago. According to the people there everything is just fine.  So there is one reason only left - the quality of the chipboard. If someone knows a different reason and has a solution - I would be very happy to hear it.

 

[John Langevin]

Arso, what do you have underneath the Melamine board when you cut it? If I understand correctly, you are scoring each side 4mm deep and then flipping it over to the top side and cutting full depth? If so, how much of the tooth is protruding below the Melamine board? If you would normally use the splinter guard, why not use it in your test? To obtain the best result with any of the blades you would want to dedicate the wear strip to each blade since they are different widths; wouldn't you?

 

[festoolfan1000]

Your blade depth is too shallow. Change the depth such that the teeth of the blade exit the bottom of the cut further. The fine tooth blade is well... fine for melamine but its not a melamine blade, its really a general pupose blade. Melamine blades have HATB teeth the much steeper angles make for a shearing cut rather then a crushing cut. They also often have negative rakes to provide both top and bottom chip free cuts without having to expose the blade agressively.

I would love to see full depth cuts, no scoring if possible.

As soon as I can I'm picking up a couple of those Tenryu blades.

Thanks,

M

 

[arso_bg]

Your blade depth is too shallow. Change the depth such that the teeth of the blade exit the bottom of the cut further. The fine tooth blade is well... fine for melamine but its not a melamine blade, its really a general pupose blade. Melamine blades have HATB teeth the much steeper angles make for a shearing cut rather then a crushing cut. They also often have negative rakes to provide both top and bottom chip free cuts without having to expose the blade agressively.

I would love to see full depth cuts, no scoring if possible.

As soon as I can I'm picking up a couple of those Tenryu blades.

Thanks,

M

Yes, you are quite right. These are cuts made on my MFT. On the MFT there are some limitations regarding the depth of the blade. In this case the dept of the blade is set to the thickness of the material + 5 mm which is the maximum unless you use some sacrificial material beneath.

Regards

A.G.

 

[arso_bg]

If I understand correctly, you are scoring each side 4mm deep and then flipping it over to the top side and cutting full depth?

Hi John,

I am afraid you misunderstood what I am doing.

After I make the first scoring cut I do not move the guide rail or the material being cut. I just switch the saw to a full depth cut and make the second pass.

Regards
A.G.

 

[arso_bg]

Hi everybody,

I have spent an hour or so today to make two boxes for my shop (It needs some cleaning and arrangement  ).  So I have here some more examples of how the TENRYU saw blade performs. I have cut a piece of laminated chipboard without to much attention to the details.

The conditions are:

1. The rubber stripe of my guide rail is rather worn out.
2. No splinter guard on the right side
3. I used a scoring cut
4. The cutting speed is - I would say medium
5. The depth of the blade equals to the thickness of the material + 4 mm

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After some edge banding

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[lordinteriors]

after the edge banding it almost disguises the chips still not ideal but acceptable for your shops i would not accept this if it was for a customer,
i think a new splintergaurd for your rail might be  a good start i know what cutting inferior quality melamine is like i would put the blade speed on full though and as always a slow steady feed rate let us know how you are getting on with it.

lee

 

[arso_bg]

after the edge banding it almost disguises the chips still not ideal but acceptable for your shops i would not accept this if it was for a customer,
i think a new splintergaurd for your rail might be  a good start i know what cutting inferior quality melamine is like i would put the blade speed on full though and as always a slow steady feed rate let us know how you are getting on with it.

lee

I'm sorry!

I just realized that I probably didn't describe the process properly -
The saw blade speed was set of course to maximum and the feed rate was medium.

Yesterday I posted the pictures above without any comments. I thought they will speak for themselves.  Now I think I should make some comments.

Regarding the quality of the edges - I find this quality absolutely acceptable and not only for my shop.  Even if not perfect everywhere with the help of a little bit make-up here and there they will look just great.
From this point of view if I have to rate the performance of the TENRYU saw blade I would say that it performs very well if not excellent. It is just the best blade that I have at the moment for cutting melamine laminated chipboard with my Festool TS 55. I will definitely use it for my next projects and I hope it will maintain the same quality.
If someone knows a better blade I would be glad to hear about it.

Regards

A.G.

 

[lordinteriors]

i havent tried any other blades in my ts75 this is only because i dont mind paying for festool blades because theyre quality i find second to none

lee

 

[norwegian wood]

i never had much luck getting totally chip free cuts in melamine sheet goods with my ts-55. with a brand new blade maybe the first few cuts but after that i seem to get them on the underside of the sheet goods. particle board melamine is a tough product to get chip free cuts on anything but a table saw with a scoring blade.

 

[festoolfan1000]

Festool blades are very high quality. Unforetunately their Fine Tooth blade is not the best design for cutting melamine particle board. The Tenryu follows current design convention with a HATB and a negative rake they also have a tapered tooth design (something I theorize might limit splinterguard wear; as it would lessen the amount  tooth rubbing against the guard as it spins.)

A.G.: If I may ask. Would it be possible to try a cut without scoring, and a new splinterguard on the rail?...  :-\

As for blade height on that blade vs the Fine Tooth blade from Festool I suspect you should be able to get away with a shallower cut. Most info on blade height on a table saw suggest to expose only half the thickness of the blade for cutting melamine. Regardless a little experimentation either way might yield better results for you on either or both sides of the cut.

I really appreciate your time on this and for sharing the info.

Michael

 

[TENRYU AMERICA]

The Tenryu follows current design convention with a HATB and a negative rake they also have a tapered tooth design (something I theorize might limit splinterguard wear; as it would lessen the amount  tooth rubbing against the guard as it spins.)

Hello Michael
I just wanted to let you know that our Melamine blade for the TS-55 is actually a ATAFR grind (Shear face with a raker) The top angle is not as steep as it would be with a HATB. You are correct that the rake angle is negative (-5).TENRYU Tooth Geometry

Thanks for your comments about the blades.

Iain