How and with what to cut the chipboard without chips?

The abbreviation chipboard should be understood as a laminated chipboard, which consists of natural wood waste mixed with a polymer adhesive composition, and has a lamination in the form of a monolithic film consisting of several layers of paper impregnated with resin. The lamination process is carried out under industrial conditions under a pressure of 28 MPa and at a high temperature regime, reaching 220 ° C. As a result of such processing, a very durable glossy coating is obtained, which can have various color shades and is highly resistant to mechanical damage and moisture.

Laminated chipboard is made from waste from sawn hardwood and coniferous species, while the plate is lightweight and is used for the manufacture of furniture structures. Most home furniture makers prefer laminated particle board when choosing raw materials for furniture making. This material is relatively inexpensive, and in outlets there is always a wide variety of colors and textures to choose from. The difficulty in working with chipboard is that it is very difficult to saw off a part of the sheet of the required size due to the fact that the fragile laminated layer creates cracks and chips at the sawing site. Knowledge of some of the techniques used in work helps to cope with this task.

To cut laminated chipboard, you need to arm yourself with a fine-toothed saw.

For the accurate and high-quality performance of sawing work, it is necessary to act in a certain sequence.

• On the chipboard sheet, it is necessary to outline the cutting line, where to glue the paper adhesive strip tightly. The tape will prevent the saw teeth from crushing the laminate during the sawing process.
• With the help of an awl or a knife blade, a groove with a recess is made along the cutting line. Thus, we cut through a thin layer of lamination in advance, simplifying our task during sawing. Moving along this groove, the saw blade will move along a tangential plane, while cutting deep layers of chipboard material.
• When cutting, it is recommended to keep the saw blade at an acute angle relative to the working plane of the board.
• If the sawing work will be carried out using an electric tool, the feed speed of the cutting blade should be kept to a minimum so that the saw cannot vibrate or bend.
• After sawing off, the cut of the workpiece must be processed first with a file, and then using sandpaper. The cut must be processed with movements from the center to the edge of the workpiece.

To protect the cut point on the workpiece from further chips or cracks, it is closed by applying melamine adhesive tape, or end edges are fixed, which can have a T-shaped or C-shaped appearance.

In the conditions of a woodworking enterprise, special equipment is used to cut a sheet of chipboard, which is called a panel saw. Some private furniture workshops purchase such a machine, but it is hardly advisable to install it at home due to the high cost. Household power tools will be able to replace such equipment - sawing a chipboard can be done with a circular saw or a hacksaw. The sawing process will take quite a lot of time and effort, but from an economic point of view, it will be quite justified.

In order to make an even cut without damaging the laminate layer, you will need to take a jigsaw file, in which the size of the teeth will be the smallest. It is advisable to use a jigsaw for cutting small-sized sections of chipboard. Jerks and excessive pressure during work should be avoided. The feed speed of the cutting blade at the tool should be selected as low as possible.

This hand tool is used in combination with a metal blade, as it has the smallest teeth. Before work, a sticky paper tape must be glued to the cut site, which protects the lamination layer from damage. The hand saw blade must be held at an angle of 30–35 °, this position reduces the likelihood of chipping on the material. The movement of the hacksaw blade should be smooth, without pressure on the blade.

This power tool consists of a small work table and a rotating toothed disc. A circular saw cuts a chipboard much faster and better than an electric jigsaw. During the sawing process, the saw is turned on at low speed. In this case, chips may appear on the opposite side of the saw teeth.

It is a hand-held type of power tool that is used to saw and drill wood-based panels. Before starting work in laminated chipboard, using a hand jigsaw, make a small cut, retreating from the marking contour by 3-4 mm. The sawing process uses several cutter blades and its bearing device, which regulates the cutting depth. Using a milling cutter is not so easy, so you need to have some skill with this tool to cut the slab. The movement of the cutter is quite fast and there is a chance of making an uneven cut.

The use of hand tools is advisable in the manufacture of single products from laminated chipboard. For mass production, it is advisable to purchase format-cutting equipment.

It is quite possible to cut the chipboard without chips at home with your own hands. It greatly simplifies the task of preliminary creation of a groove with a sharp object in the area of ​​the cut. Once in this place, the blade of the cutting tool follows a predetermined path and it turns out to cut much easier. Straight cuts on laminated chipboard are much easier to do than to cut a sheet figuredly.

It is extremely difficult to carry out curvilinear configurations using household appliances; this can be done only with the use of an electrophoresis. This tool performs a high-quality cut and has a lot of additional functions.

To cut a sheet of laminated chipboard using an electromill, you must perform the following steps:

• on the surface of an ordinary chipboard, all the contours of the future workpiece are marked;
• using an electric jigsaw, the workpiece is cut out, retreating from the intended contour by 1–2 mm;
• the finished sawn-off template is cleaned with a file or sandpaper;
• a prepared stencil is placed on a sheet of laminated chipboard and fixed with carpentry clamps so that it is in a fixed position;
• along the contour of the stencil with an electrofusion cutter equipped with a bearing mechanism, cut out the contours of the workpiece, cutting off the edge exactly along the intended line;
• after completing the work, the end sides are cleaned and processed with a decorative edge.

The use of an electromill allows you to make a figured cut of chipboard without chips and cracking of the material.

You can learn about four ways to cut chipboard without chipping with a jigsaw from the video below.