I laser cut a small box the other day to fit meeples and the dimensions to fit a tile piece inside any direction you lay it. The holes are meant for seeing what color the meeples are when choosing what color to play with.
Matthew, I’m not a very experienced woodworker yet so I’m not 100% sure of the answer to your question. I’m not sure if masonite would act exactly the same as wood, but from everything I’ve read and heard, modern wood glue is stronger than the wood itself. I would assume it would act the same with masonite since it’s made with wood fibers. You could always try a sample joint glued together and then see how it holds up for you. Good luck.
Wood glue might not be the best option. It might be okay on the edges but the sides of compressed hardboard (Masonite) is coated with something (I read one place that it is linseed oil) that wood glue might not penetrate.
I think I might try CA, a.k.a super glue, and see how that works. I also read that construction adhesives should work pretty well. Loc-Tite makes some small tubes of construction adhesive that might be suitable.
Eclectic E6000 is highly recommended various places online. But, removing some of the charred surface on the cut edges might be the real key. Very tightly fitting pieces might also be more difficult because if all the adhesive squeezes out except a very thin film there’s just not enough adhesive left.
I personally believe some solvent to degloss the unaltered surfaces and sanding to roughen and decarbonize the cut surfaces might be the best technique. I haven’t experimented enough to be sure if the effort is worth it.
I would use Tight Bond II. CA and hot glue have very little lateral strength. You can lightly sand the joint area of the finished side of the hard board, if you feel a need to allow the glue to penetrate more than normal.
