Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Melimine Chery Joint
I have designed a top for a desk that has melamine banded by 3.5 inches of 3/4 cherry.I made a rabbit in the cherry to hold the 1/2 inch piece of melamine. Unfortunately I have some unsightly gaps between the melamine and the cherry caused by a poor design. Any suggestions on how to fill the 1/32 gaps between the melamine and the cherry?
Lynn
Re: Melimine Chery Joint
colored epoxy
Re: Melimine Chery Joint
Lynn,
why not router out or use a scratch stock to inlay some stringing there. May be a good time to try out a new process and add some visual bang to that desk top while your at it :)
Hmm.
I don't see why the design is poor, Lynn. If you haven't glued it up yet, go back and skim that rabbet and the edge of the melamine with a nice sharp carbide router bit to get them straight and perfect, then be sure all your clamps are bearing directly in line with the melamine edge. You shouldn't need any filler.
If you've already glued it up, I like the idea of adding a feature strip. It could be a little strip of hardwood or a piece of inlay banding.
Ellis Walentine, Host
Re: Melimine Chery Joint
It is my lack of skill with the router that created this situation. I guess I need a smaller router. I have lots to trouble getting the router to behave.
Re: Melimine Chery Joint
Lynn,
How about a bigger base instead of a smaller router? I'm guessing that you trimmed the edge of your melamine with a router running along the edge of the board, and got occasional tips and wanders away from your straightedge. A large router, particularly a plunge router (which makes it even more top heavy), can be difficult to control when only 1/2 of the base is supported and your hands are close together. An oversize base that moves one of your hands 'outboard' over the surface of the workpiece would help, if I've correctly guessed at the source of the problem.
Hope this helps,
Nick