Thread: Table saws whats the best for $1500.

Originally Posted by malb

Melamine is fickle stuff to cut without chipping the edges, hence the suggestion earlier about saws with a scribing blade to precut the lower face while feeding the material through the saw.

Next issue is edging the cut edges, yes you can buy preglued 0.4mm tape and heat gun based edger/trimmers, but 0.4mm tape is fairly soft and brittle and more use for hiding the raw edge of the substate than protecting the melamine edges from chipping in use. A solid 1mm edge serves both functions very well but needs to be applied with a commercial machine.

For this reason, I would suggest that you work out what you need for all rooms and talk to a few cabinetmakers about getting a custom flatpack cut. They can make your layout sketches and dimensions, draw it up and lay it out on sheets in a couple of hours, then route and edge in a couple of hours as well. You end up paying for cutting and edging labour, and loose the excuse for buying a saw, but the job would come out a lot cheaper than contracting out the job, and you have a pro finish and look.

I have been through this process. I got a cabinet maker who has a the right type of saw for cutting melamine to cut out all the shelving and framework. Then I made all the rest in silky oak-the doors, kick boards and all the visible facings which screw to the carcass. In the end we got a really nice kitchen for a tiny fraction of the price and I did not have to stuff about with large sheets of melamine.