I am building a concession counter for a movie theatre. I need to build the cabinet carcasses out of two-sided white melamine board. I need to apply laminate to the exterior of the carcasses and am concerned about the glue bond between the melamine surface and the finish laminate. At this point, I plan on sanding the melamine (to give it some “tooth”) before applying the contact adhesive. I think I am being overly cautious but if anyone has any advice I would appreciate it!
Thanks! – Colin
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Replies
Why do you need to apply laminate over melamine? Isn't the melamine good enough? Can you buy one-sided melamine?
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I only have 2-sided available for this job. And, I am applying custom inlays of client specified formica patterns.
I don't even know if 1-sided is available ... just a thought.
If you are concerned with the laminate adhering to the melamine, maybe it would be prudent to buy plain mdf and laminate both sides yourself.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I have successfully layed laminate over laminate with contact cement by first belt sanding the orginal surface with 50 grit,
I see no reason why this wouldn't work with melamine.
Just be sure after you sand to tack cloth the surface to clean all the dust off.
Welcome abourd and good luck, Mike
Adam Savage---Mythbusters
At this point, I plan on sanding the melamine (to give it some "tooth") before applying the contact adhesive
I've done that. Worked fine. Make sure you can trust your contact adhesive as it's gotta stand up to abuse.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Belt sanding and contact cement will work, and it's acceptable in this case because the cabinet will keep the cabinet gable from deforming......you will see people do it sometimes on a shelf or a cabinet door to save a little money (only adding the laminate to one side, the other side stays white melamine). This is usually a disaster, and it's specifically disallowed under all grades of the AWMAC/AWI quality standards, the manual that the commercial cabinetmakers/design authorities go by (I'm pretty sure it's disallowed under all grades; definitely under the upper grades).
The rule is: what you do to one side, you have to do to the other (creating a 'balanced panel'), or you stand a very good chance that the panel will warp; same rule as when veneering. You should be okay though because a cabinet gable isn't able to warp easily.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
You could alway run 1/2" particle board over the outside and then the laminate.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
We just contact cement it, and it works fine. Sanding it won't hurt. Good on you for putting laminate instead of just leaving melamine. It looks much nicer.
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People are entitled to their own opinions; People are not entitled to their own truth.
Jacob
I just did what you describe last week. I ordered one-sided melamine to make a soda fountain, self-serve base cabinet for a sandwich shop. What showed up was white melamine on one side and brown melamine on the other side. I was trying to avoid your dilemma, but oh well.
I laminated the brown side, after sanding with 80 grit. I usually use water-based contact cement, but decided to use the smelly, flammable solvent stuff--since melamine is not exactly porous.
there is a 1 side melamine with a glueable backer available...
greg