How would you fix this chip board with melamine crack?

[Lipsmacker01]

Hubby underestimated the size of our Bunnings kitchen do it yourself cupboards pack and didnt allow for the side panel pieces of our rangehood so then he ended up having to reduce a 450mm wide cabinet to 400mm. Whilst doing this he managed to damage an upper panel of melamine coated chipboard with his triton saw. Lucky the panel damaged was an upper one and most of the damage is on the top not on the front but is there any way we can cover it up or bog it up?



The pic probably makes it look a lot worse than it is, its only about 2cm wide. I asked a guy at Bunnings (dont think he understood really how bad it was as in deep) because he said we could either:

stick a new laminate piece on top
get a new piece of laminate and replace it or
go to a cabinet maker and see if they can supply some chalk that they normally use to repair mistakes.

Had a look down the gap filla isle and noticed a product by Selleys Pollyfilla in a tube for about $10 and it specifies for fine jobs. Does anyone know if this would do the trick?
This is what it says on their site:

POLYFILLA* READY TO USE SKIM COAT

• Polyfilla Skim Coat is a ready to use filler.
• For easy, smooth results when filling fine imperfections on interior surfaces.
• Extremely easy to apply & sand. With excellent adhesion to interior surfaces.
• Paintable for superb finish.
• Available in 520g and 1.17kg plastic tubes, and 3.3kg tub.

or are we just better of getting a new cupboard altogether for $50? It will be up high so barely noticable

Attachment 88531

[blackhole]

Put a new piece of iron on edging and just leave the top.

There must be a friendly forum person near by who could give you a metre of edging other wise buy a 10m roll.

[Johncs]

Hubby underestimated the size of our Bunnings kitchen do it yourself cupboards pack and didnt allow for the side panel pieces of our rangehood so then he ended up having to reduce a 450mm wide cabinet to 400mm. Whilst doing this he managed to damage an upper panel of melamine coated chipboard with his triton saw. Lucky the panel damaged was an upper one and most of the damage is on the top not on the front but is there any way we can cover it up or bog it up?



The pic probably makes it look a lot worse than it is, its only about 2cm wide. I asked a guy at Bunnings (dont think he understood really how bad it was as in deep) because he said we could either:

stick a new laminate piece on top
get a new piece of laminate and replace it or
go to a cabinet maker and see if they can supply some chalk that they normally use to repair mistakes.

Had a look down the gap filla isle and noticed a product by Selleys Pollyfilla in a tube for about $10 and it specifies for fine jobs. Does anyone know if this would do the trick?
This is what it says on their site:

POLYFILLA* READY TO USE SKIM COAT

• Polyfilla Skim Coat is a ready to use filler.
• For easy, smooth results when filling fine imperfections on interior surfaces.
• Extremely easy to apply & sand. With excellent adhesion to interior surfaces.
• Paintable for superb finish.
• Available in 520g and 1.17kg plastic tubes, and 3.3kg tub.

or are we just better of getting a new cupboard altogether for $50? It will be up high so barely noticable

Attachment 88531

The filler is intended for filling masonry, it has water in it and I'd not be putting water onto my chipboard.

_I_ would go down to a local cabinet maker and ask about laminate offcuts. There's a good chance of getting a good matching piece at a very good price.

I would then practice with my plunge router on some scrap until I felt I could reliably make an impression deep enough bot not too deep for the laminate to fit needly.

Hint. Sit the router on a flat piece of wood and plunge unto the bit makes contact with the wood. Hold a fragment of the laminate in the space over the depth-stop's bar, and set the depth stop to that point. When you remove the laminate, it can plunge just that little bit extra.

I would use a straight bit with a top bearing. A straight bit with no bearing is possible, if you use a the template guide, but getting it into position's a little trickier.

The other thing is to tidy the break and trim the laminate to size. I have some laminate, I'm pretty sure (I've not tried) that I can cut it with a trimming knife. If the laminate's held in place over the area to patch with double-sided tape, then cutting the laminate would also mark the position it needs to go.

To cut out a recess to inset the laminate, you need a straight guide that is thick enough the bearing on the bit runs on it while the bit is clear of the workpiece but thin enough you can cut as deep as you need.

I would probably use contact cement, and practice on scrap to find how much to allow for its filling properties.

There will be a small cavity, you can either fill with plastic wood or ignore it.

If the laminate projects from the cupboard you can trim it with a trimming bit in the router, or (probably) with a knife. Depending on the laminate, there may be a black line at the edge.


I've just been looking at the picture again. I think you can get 3mm melimine and fit as for laminate that should just about do the edge too.

OTOH $50.00 for a replacement cupboard looks good, and the damaged one might find a home in the workshop.

[Lipsmacker01]

Now that the cupboards have been mounted the chip in the laminate doesnt look as obvious since its so up high and has a cupboard door on it to hide it. Dont think hubby is keen on the idea of the iron on idea (even though its a brilliant idea). Might have to come up with something to bog up the crack though, just for my own piece of mind.
Thanks

[Doc0055]

White timber putty will do the trick. Use it all the time, and it matches fairly closely to the white of the cupboards.

[snapman007]

Just replace that whole 400mm wide panel. Shouldn't cost anymore than $10. The result will be brand new and in a years time you wont be saying we should have fixed it properly.

[Harry72]

Just replace that whole 400mm wide panel. Shouldn't cost anymore than $10. The result will be brand new and in a years time you wont be saying we should have fixed it properly.

Thats the only way to do it

[China]

As said above replace it

[Sawdust Maker]

The other trick is to use "white out" the white stuff to cover type on documents. Can be purchased from stationers.