TS55 chipping out.

[lambeater]

Been cutting melamine with my saw and noticed that my edges are always chipping even if I score or not. Has anyone had good luck with the freud blades on their  TS55?
thx
Lambeater

 

[ccarrolladams]

Been cutting melamine with my saw and noticed that my edges are always chipping even if I score or not. Has anyone had good luck with the freud blades on their  TS55?
thx
Lambeater

I routinely cut Melamine using TS55 with the Festool Solid Surface/Laminate blade cat 496 309.

I always carefully adjust the green plastic splinter guard to protect the off-cut. I do make a shallow scoring cut as the first pass, with the plastic face up. I also use a sacrificial surface 18mm thick on top of my cutting table so on the final pass the blade extends at least 16mm below the bottom of the Melamine to reduce back-side tear-out.

Personally I have not found a Freud blade that performs better than the Festool cat 469 309

 

[tiralie]

Yes, I have used the Freud blades and they work well.
I think the Tenyru blades are better and hold an edge longer but only slightly. I have not used the Festool solid surface/laminate blade cat 496 309. I gotta order some blades so it's on my list. The standard blade also will give you a couple good cuts but doesn't last long in melamine.
As discussed many times here, the quality of melamine is important. I have noticed that the quality varies greatly from big box stores so if you are buying your melamine there you will get chip out. If you are noticing more chipping than normal and you haven't changed the settings or dropped your TS55 I would say it's the melamine not the saw or blade.
As others have suggested ("Junk") has suggested elsewhere try to get melamine with an mdf core or cabinet grade melamine.
Tim

 

[lambeater]

Thanks guys for the info. I don't normally buy cheap melamine but I did this time in a hurry for a quick fix. I will check with some better quality stuff I have.

thx
Lambeater