Using Melamine Boards - Project: Golf Bag Rack

Sal is an old friend and helps greatly by being the photographer for this site....and he is a golfer. So when he brought in a catalog ad (insert) for a golf bag storage rack, I said: "Piece of cake, we can do that."    He wanted an extra shelf for balls and tees and the like, and we both decided to use melamine covered chipboard — because it is easy to keep clean, inexpensive and doesn't waste real wood. It does take some special care, which we will discuss as we go.    Rather than get a 4' X 8' sheet, we decided that we could use standard sizes sold at the home center.
	For the sides, we are using 12" X 48". The back is 16" X 48" — these are standard sizes, so we will not need to do any cutting.    I did want to see if the locking miter router bit could be used on chipboard. This composite tends to tear out a lot. I wasn't sure how it would work for this material.    I start, by installing the locking miter bit.
I install my high vertical fence and set the fence depth at an approximate starting point, using a scrap piece.
	I mark two test pieces "A" and "B". The full set-up procedure is spelled out in "Locking Miter Joint - a sure method to setting up." It is available from the menu or you can click here to go there now.    If you think that I know this bit well enough to take short cuts, that is true. The short cut I follow is the full  procedure...it is the quickest and most accurate way.
After setting the bit height approximately at the half-way mark, I run the "A" board face up. You can already see that the locking miter bit cuts a pretty good shape, even in this problematic material.    I make the same cut with the "B" face down, assemble the two boards and adjust the bit height until the two are "seamless."    I set the fence depth using the same procedure. This whole setup took 5 minutes,  at most.
	With the setup of router depth and fence depth made, I can start the routing of the pieces. I decided to run the back section vertically and do this on both edges.    The two finger boards hold the workpiece securely against the fence and allowed the bit to cut smoothly.    Melamine coated chipboard is a composite of a mixture of chips.  You really have to feed the material slowly and allow the bit time to get rid of the chips. Of course, a vacuum is attached to the fence and is very important in keeping the cut clean, not to mention minimizing dust in the shop.
With the backs shaped, I change the finger boards and start routing one edge of each of the sides.
	With the corners cut, I turn to dadoing for the shelves. The sliding table on the table saw is a real plus for this operation. The board is way too narrow to use the fence for these cuts and the standard miter gauge is way too small. Without the sliding table, I would probably have used a router and a clamp/guide or a shop built cross cut slide.