The components of one of the
two stands are laid out ready for gluing up. At this point, we decided to
"streamline" the look and cut a gentle curve in the upper portion of the case.
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Following a hand drawn curve, I
cut to the line then used the first cut as the pattern for the rest of the sides.
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In preparing to glue the corners, I make sure the groove is clean of chip material by
running a screwdriver blade along the channel. If the channel isn't perfectly cleaned out,
the corner will not fit properly.
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I like to use polyurethane glue
for this material. It expands and can fill some of the voids caused by tearout. Note that
I use latex gloves. This adhesive isn't easy to get off your hands (an understatement), so
the gloves come in very handy.
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The
clamp on the left is holding the "dry-fit" first side in place. This holds the
unit while I place the piece to which I just applied the glue.
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If I had 12 or so clamps, I
would not need to use other fasteners. The chip board really requires that you clamp every
few inches to close the gap.
What I did, was to clamp a section, then use the narrow crown stapler to add
1 1/2" staples. I bought this narrow crown stapler years ago just for working with
melamine panels. The staple holds where a brad tends to pull through. Where
the staple indents show, I will cover with some white patch as the last step.
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There are packages of screws sold at home centers for use with this chipboard. They come
with white caps to cover the head. I have pre-drilled the hole and am now screwing into
place.
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Unfortunately, the white
melamine chips so easily, particularly near the edges, that chip out can be greater than
the white cap will cover. I will use the white patch over this, too.
The small hole below is the narrow crown staple hole. The white patch
material I use for white melamine is standard auto body patch material. It is fast drying,
hard and blends well.
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I use a hot iron to adhere the white plastic edging material. In my other hand, I have a
block of wood to hold the tape down following the hot iron. This is an important step
which is often often overlooked. If you do not press the hot edging down following the
iron, the edging will not adhere solidly. Of course, a standard clothes pressing iron can
be used.
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To this point, I have built the
stand as two components. Now I will fasten them together using some special screw posts
used in kitchen cabinet installation.
I first clamp the pieces together.
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Then I drill a 5/16" hole through both adjoining sides at 4 locations.
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This is the screw post I use.
It has a broad white plastic cap on the end and I use a similar cap at the other end.
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The white end caps have shallow screw driver slots allowing the tightening of the
assembly.
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And here is the finished unit.
Some thoughts on using melamine chipboard:
> it is relatively inexpensive and very available;
> the corners are sharp, so wear gloves or handle carefully;
> standard woodworking blades can be used;
> the material chips easily so be sure the board is held firmly when sawing or
routing;
> it is hard on blades and cutters, do not feed too rapidly;
> there are a number of products designed to be used with this material. Product
catalogs can be very informative. [Rockler has a very complete and illustrated catalog
that can be of great help for working with white melamine as well as all hardware needs];
And finally, it is not as nice to use as real wood but it does have a time
and a place.
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