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Methods
There are a number of things you can try for cutting melamine and/or veneer. I have not used any extensively preferring a good blade and a single pass on the saw. These methods are worth trying if you do not have a high quality 80 tooth carbide blade or if you do and it is dull or otherwise not giving you the results you want.
One thing often mentioned is the zero clearance insert. I think these are overrated as they are only zero clearance for a very short time. Some saw blades are not flat until they are running at full speed. Blades are tensioned by hammering or other means. A hammered blade will actually have a bit of cup to it until it is spun at high speed where it flattens out. Tensioning results in a more stable, truer cutting, blade. Anyway what this means is that the sides of the insert are scraped when starting and stopping the blade which quickly widens a zero clearance insert.
One method I have found useful on veneer is to cut two pieces of material at once. The bottom piece is something cheap like particleboard or 1/4 hardboard on the bottom. This will give you a clean backside with any halfway decent blade but it is a bit of a hassle and works best when using a crosscut box (sled) because the particleboard can be undersized and you don't need to worry about it moving around.
Another option for veneer is to score the backside with a utility knife. The trick here is to get a nice straight clean score and then get your blade to cut right on the center (or edge which is generally safer) of the score. This will still leave you with a fraction of a bevel caused by the knife blade. I use this when trimming down doors (house not cabinet, with a skillsaw) when I can leave the score since I am going to put on a bevel which takes away the score line.
For veneer or melamine make two passes, the first with the blade raised about 1/8" and the second at full height. This will reduce the angle of the teeth and should reduce splintering/chipping. This is a little like the scoring blade used on commercial saws however not quite as effective because a scoring blade runs the opposite direction effectively upcutting (teeth moving into the material instead of out of it). A variation on this method is to make the first cut *backwards*, feed the piece from the back of the saw. CAUTION the blade could catch and pull the piece through (kickback). This is a risky maneuver and I am not endorsing it. Considerations would be minimal blade height, reasonable sized piece of PBC core material, down pressure and slow speed. I have done some cutting this way and it does work though I think it is harder on the blade and best avoided.
A variation on the above idea is to set your table saw blade height to about 2/3 or 3/4 the height of the material you're cutting. Run your piece through, then flip it over and run it again. This is easier as you don't have to raise and lower the blade. What this does is reduce the angle of the teeth the same way the 10 deg. neg. hook the melamine blade does at normal height. I have been told that this method also improves the cut quality of a melamine blade.
One other technique that I have found useful on the ends of stuff too long or too big for the tablesaw is to cut the piece a bit oversize with a skillsaw and then use a router against a straight edge. Figure out the distance from your bit to the edge of your router base, subtract that from the finished size you want and clamp your straight edge there. I have found the Clamp-N-Tool Guide by Tru-Grip particularly handy for this. Almost all my sheet good router work is done with a single flute 3/8" bit. See Jim Mattson's Clean Melamine Edges page for a router table technique.
One method I have found useful on veneer is to cut two pieces of material at once. The bottom piece is something cheap like particleboard or 1/4 hardboard on the bottom. This will give you a clean backside with any halfway decent blade but it is a bit of a hassle and works best when using a crosscut box (sled) because the particleboard can be undersized and you don't need to worry about it moving around.
Another option for veneer is to score the backside with a utility knife. The trick here is to get a nice straight clean score and then get your blade to cut right on the center (or edge which is generally safer) of the score. This will still leave you with a fraction of a bevel caused by the knife blade. I use this when trimming down doors (house not cabinet, with a skillsaw) when I can leave the score since I am going to put on a bevel which takes away the score line.
For veneer or melamine make two passes, the first with the blade raised about 1/8" and the second at full height. This will reduce the angle of the teeth and should reduce splintering/chipping. This is a little like the scoring blade used on commercial saws however not quite as effective because a scoring blade runs the opposite direction effectively upcutting (teeth moving into the material instead of out of it). A variation on this method is to make the first cut *backwards*, feed the piece from the back of the saw. CAUTION the blade could catch and pull the piece through (kickback). This is a risky maneuver and I am not endorsing it. Considerations would be minimal blade height, reasonable sized piece of PBC core material, down pressure and slow speed. I have done some cutting this way and it does work though I think it is harder on the blade and best avoided.
A variation on the above idea is to set your table saw blade height to about 2/3 or 3/4 the height of the material you're cutting. Run your piece through, then flip it over and run it again. This is easier as you don't have to raise and lower the blade. What this does is reduce the angle of the teeth the same way the 10 deg. neg. hook the melamine blade does at normal height. I have been told that this method also improves the cut quality of a melamine blade.
One other technique that I have found useful on the ends of stuff too long or too big for the tablesaw is to cut the piece a bit oversize with a skillsaw and then use a router against a straight edge. Figure out the distance from your bit to the edge of your router base, subtract that from the finished size you want and clamp your straight edge there. I have found the Clamp-N-Tool Guide by Tru-Grip particularly handy for this. Almost all my sheet good router work is done with a single flute 3/8" bit. See Jim Mattson's Clean Melamine Edges page for a router table technique.