Gluing plywood to melamine

[sbishop]

i've started building my cabinets for my cabin and had a question on what i should use to glue the plywood on the end cabinets to the white melamine i'm using.

contact cement?

My cabinets are built out of 5/8" melamine and i've got some 1/4" cherry plywood to glue to the ends.

Thanks
Sbishop

[John Bartley]

Sand the face of the melamine (anywhere that the glue will be) with a 50 or 80 grit belt on a belt sander to achieve a "tooth" for the glue to adhere to, then use contact cement.

cheers

John

[Larry]

Contact cement...try to buy it from someplace that has a quick turnover.  I've bought some in the past from one of the big box stores and it was well past it's prime.  Buy a "J" roller to apply pressure and pay particular attention to the edges.  Some folks will epoxy the edges and contact cement the interior in extremely wet environments...I never have for a kitchen.

I've never sanded the melamine as John suggested but it sounds like a good idea...maybe a little labor intensive.

A little story...one of my first jobs was working in a cabinet factory.  We had a really big order and needed 50 sheets of plywood with melamine.  The only place with nuff space for the glue up was the factory attic so that's where I and a co-worker headed one morning.  Few hours later the boss came up to check on us...we were laughing uncontrollably...but had the contact cement down.  He took us outside and we sobered up most quick.  So...make sure you have adequate ventilation.

A little thread I did a while back might help ya a bit.
Lets build a kitchen counter

[sbishop]

Thanks guys, contact cement it is.

I will post some pics soon!

Sbishop