I occasionaly use heat senitive edgebanding and have never trimmed it so that I felt it was done well or right. I’ve tried knives and I’ve tried the squeeze type cutters with poor, inconsistent results. I bought a edger unit from Lee Valley that never worked at all, fortunately it cost very little. I see that Woodworker’s Supply has nice looking and expensive trimmer and am tempted to try it. What do other woodworkers use that give professional loking results?
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Replies
I guess I'm kinda bizarre in that my edgebanding methodology falls outside the mainstream spectrum of practice. I don't use no 35k$ shop tool, nor do I use any 350$ hot air based machine, but rather a 35$ heating strip. Mind you I'm normally applying melamine edging. Wood grain stuff takes some the same tools, but requires the observation of the grain direction to be respected.
lemme see if I can find a picture or two...
OK, the stuff gets heated and on, But. that ain't the half of it. what you wanna make sure is that the stuff stays on, so I have a small granite countertop sample covered with leather which I use to rub it on so that adherence is better. that's sitting there in the jpg I think i uploaded.....
Next, I trim off the excess with a virutex end trimmer, and a virutex edgeband trimmer. That equiovacates to the quality of the edgebanding on shelving you purchase in the borg-stores, but then, I have a sharp chisel to run along each edge, Sharp as yer wwing chisels, but it has a couple of swipes on the stone to give it a slight back bevel on the flat side, which prevents it from diggin in. That gets it down quite flush, and a mere swipe or two of draw filing finishes it off and eases the edge sharpness.
It's Ok if someone suggests faster and lesser operative steps, but there are two tests I apply to help with the quality ... can you run your fingernail past the edges without it catching, and can you swipe yer palm down the edge without getting yer palm diced and sliced. If it don't pass those tests, you is gonna have problems down the road....and if you ain't got time to do it right the first time, how are you gonna find the time to go back and fix it in situ ?
If anyone is interested, I can help point them to a US source of the heating elements.
For repairs, and odd jobs (like edgebanding curves,) I use a hot air gun- way faster than an iron. and yes, I do have an oldfashioned iron somewhere in the shop.
hope this gives some assistance.
Eric in Cowtown
Bak,
Buy yourself a good American made mill file 10"x 1-14" (Nicholson)
To remove the overhang, pull the file towards you at a downward 45% angle (pointing toward your navel)( also holding it at a 45% angle,
pointed to your right)
Draw the file down ONLY in the forward direction and simotaniously toward the bottom right
This will remove a 'swarth' of about two inches of material.
Advance about one inch from first stroke and repeat (remembering NOT to back up.)
Repeated strokes will remove a strip of overhang all along the banding
and also produce a smooth chamfer which relieves the sharp edge
Steinmetz.
Edited 4/10/2006 3:37 pm ET by Steinmetz
Edited 4/10/2006 4:14 pm ET by Steinmetz
I use a skewed block plane making sure to go with the grain and then a skew chisel followed by sandpaper to trim it flush
I use a good sharp adjustable mouth block plane, with the throat set pretty tight.
Ron
After miles and miles of banding, I feel confident telling you that none of those trimmer-thing tools work well, and you won't find them in any production shops.
For melamine or vinyl heat-applied edging. Use a medium-sharp chisel or old block plane blade. Not too sharp, because you don't want to dig into the face of the panel. Skew the blade about 20 deg. so that you are cutting from the outside of the edging. This keeps the friction from lifting the edging. Clean up with a light pass with a mill file or with a card scraper lightly run along the corner at an angle.
For veneer edging (iron-on or contact cemented). Learn to use a file. I've used veneer saws as well, but they are slow and still need to be cleaned up with a file. Your best bet is to use a 8" or 10" single cut mill file (cut edge is preferred) and angle it so (if right handed) it points about 20 deg to the left, and angle it about 5-10deg up. Take long strokes upward and to the right. you should be cutting curls of edging with each pass, about 6 inches each stroke. After trimming off, you then run the file along gently to knock off any edge arris or burrs.
It takes practice, and is hard as hell to describe, but it was taught to me by a master cabinetmaker many moons ago, and has never failed. I teach it to all my apprentices now, and challenge them match my speed or finish.
Best of luck.
The older I get, the better I was....
Aha! I can post few pics.
Hope these help.The older I get, the better I was....
Yeah, the pictures help. Thanks for the guidance!My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
well done..... you can come and edge band with me anytime you want.....All kidding aside, an exact duplication of what I do.Eric
in Cowtwon
But in all honesty, wherever possible- I use my $35,000 SCM Olimpic K203 Edgebander. You can edge plam, vinyl, veneer, strips or rolls, and 3mm PVC up to 65mm wide at 7m/min.
Applying and trimming banding isn't fun, but its something ya gotta do.The older I get, the better I was....
papanick
I do the same thing as you do for melamine but I put a little bevel on the bottom side of the chisel and I never have any gouging.
Doug
I like to use a small trim plane about 2" long. Stanley makes one that works fine and you can sometimes find it at the big box stores for around $15-$20 though I've picked up a couple of others around the same size that have a bit more mass to them that I like a little better. I just lay a piece of paper on the face to protect it while I plane down the overhang. When I get down even with the paper I switch to a sanding block to get the rest.
If you build it he will come.
Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I knew there had to be a better way and I'm looking forward to finishing some garage cabinets I made months ago. They look funny with the door edges un trimmed and several gouges from attempts with other tools and methods.
Here's another method: Before using a squeeze type trimmer, check the grain of the wood in the banding. It usually goes at an angle, instead of being exactly parallel with the edges. Remove one of the blades from the trimmer, then trim using only the remaining blade, following the "downhill" grain, to avoid tearout. Reverse direction when trimming the other side. This should prevent the tearout that results by trying to trim both sides at once. Gary
you can check the grain in the edge banding, but it will likely reverse on at least half of the splices. Just one reason why edgeband trimmers don't work well with wood edge banding.Eric
i see rolls of melamine edge banding that is either iron-on (heat activated) or by pulling off the surface of double sided tape. both are the same price for same length. i need to do about 100 ft of edge banding. the fellow at woodworking store recommends the tape version. has anyone got an opinion of heat activated vs tape versions?
I use a double sided strummer on melamine or PVC. Followed by light passes with a file.
For wood, I do it with a file like Steinmetz describes, except I’m holding the file almost perpendicular. If you chamfer too much you burn thru the banding.
Now worries about tear out, touch with some sandpaper, Works well.
@vesta in the past I’ve used melamine/hot iron exclusively, it on a recent project went with PVC and Speedtape. Only because it was all the supplier has that matched the laminate.
vs. glue on, you’ve got two steps, plus the cost of the tape.
In the future I’ll stick with the iron on.
robert, thank you for the reply. sounds like you prefer the iron-on, but i'm not sure why you prefer that method, as opposed to the double sided tape variety. will you elaborate?
I’m talking about bare banding using Speed tape. I wasn’t aware there is banding that comes with ds tape already on it.
Only because it is easier for me. One step, and I don’t have to deal with the tape remnants getting in the edge cutters etc.
Although I did realize it’s best to trim the tape back before applying banding. Of course that was 90% through the project....and of course one more step.
I might be late to reply to this particular subject, but...
I've been in the field for 45 years; you can try this method or take it with a grain of salt?
If I am using Laminate or Vinyl on melamine: I pretty much do like the rest heat iron w/heavy rag or washcloth, slightly damp.
Obviously, not to hot; but I use a block of maple or a hard hardwood and apply downward pressure several times and follow up with a slight angle on the egdes then inspect.
As far as wood veneer on plywood: I will use an iron as well, but depending on the humidity and overall site temperature, I will use a heat gun on edge of ply first, just to get the veneer to stick, then go over with an iron of choice; you just want to keep flat. Then like the other; I make sure the edges are tight and not lifting (iron at a slight angle) Then the Maple block method.
But for trimming off the excess; I use a utility knife just to get the majority off (if really grainy, use a spacer, so as not to hit the ply.
Then I use an orbital sander; maybe a 150 grit, making sure you hold it so it's rotating towards the edge and not away, as it may want to pull it away from edge.
Then follow up with just easing the edge so if you were to slide something off the edge, it wouldn't catch an edge. This works great, as it's fast and it heats up the edge tape and somewhat cauterizes by sealing the tape. Practice with a scrap piece first, but if you're comfortable with an orbital, this is the way to go...
I've used almost all suggested above with varying degrees of success. One of the best and simplest for the initial cut is to use a utility razor blade attached to a small block of wood with double stick tape. Press the unit on the face blade downward behind the banding then run along pressing blade to banding gently inward to score, then a few more times as needed to cut through.
Here you are Robert. I also often just default to using a utility knife and file after buying several trimming tools. https://www.fastcap.com/product/fastedge-peel-and-stick-edgebanding
danny, thank you. after seeing the above web page, i see that i was wrong in thinking the fastcap fastedge had double-sided tape - it's actually an acrylic adhesive. now, i'm leaning towards the fastcap fastedge, and not having to deal with an iron.
user-762... i'm not understanding the configuration of the blade to the wood block - do you have a photo of your jig? since many complain about the trimmers, i'm leaning towards using a utility razor blade.
Small piece of scrap wood material - shown 3/4" thick for scale. Hold the wood and drag the end point "at an angle" along back of protruding edge band. I use the regular permanent Scotch double sided tape in the yellow package.
user 7562... ahh so. thank you.
Table saw with a notched tall auxiliary fence and a zero clearance insert. Fast and easy.
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