How to Join Two Pieces of Melamine
You’ve finished cutting the melamine boards for a bookshelf, and you would like to join the boards together without revealing unsightly screws and fasteners. You can join two pieces of melamine at right angles using a combination of carpentry techniques. The rabbet and dado joint is a standard method of joining, used in building bookshelves and cabinets.
Step 1
Determine the location of your melamine joint. The first board has a groove cut. The second board is fashioned to fit into this groove at a right angle.
Step 2
Set up the router table fence to make a dado cut in the selected location on the first board. Cut a 1/2-inch-wide dado, the width of the melamine board. The depth of the dado cut should fall between a third and half the thickness of the board.
Step 3
Adjust the router fence to make a rabbet cut along the edge of the second melamine board, 1/4 inch deep. Set the router bit depth to cut a 1/2-inch-wide rabbet tongue.
Step 4
Dry fit the rabbet tongue to the dado cut. Once the fit is satisfactory, apply melamine glue along the dado cut. Fit the rabbet in the groove. Wipe excess glue with a wet rag. Wrap masking tape around the two pieces to keep the rabbet firmly fitted while the glue dries.
References
Writer Bio
Adam Quinn has been writing since 2008. His articles have appeared in the "Journal of Humanistic Psychology." Quinn holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington in Seattle, where his focus of study was counseling combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Photo Credits
- David Sacks/Lifesize/Getty Images
More Articles
