# Preferred Edge Banding



## Resurrected (Jan 11, 2011)

What do you prefer PSA, Pre glue or no glue edge banding?

Why do you think there is a advantage of one over the other?

Also where do you get the stuff you prefer and for how much is it?

I,m not asking for particular reason I was just curious to what everyone else perfers and why.

Plus this is what I was doing today. (It was the pre glue)


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

I prefer the pre-glued banding myself… it is easy to apply, already has the glue on it. Just heat it with an iron (borrow one from yor wife), and iron it on…..piece of cake. I usually get mine at Lowes or Home Depot, or order from a ww catalog… It runs about $8.00 for a 25 ft. roll.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

We are currently doing a large commercial job. Currently as a small shop we use a contact cement system that is contained inside a propane type cylindar with a hose and gun attached. I spray contact on mating pieces and wait til dry then join surfaces. This gives us a permanent bond. Then just trim route. Easy stuff.

Our very first kitchen in 2008 I decided on frameless construction, and decided to use PSA backed and rolled it all and flush trimmed. When I installed the job it all started to peel up and much of it was coming completely off. It was a very bad start to an adventurous custom shop venture.

As for glue backed, we just are not tooled properly to go that route.

My adhesive spray system cost me 550.00 to get started and is convenient and very easy to use. But if you are looking at just some smaller stuff and want a cheaper method, a person could get contact cement by gallon at Lowes and you could use a 40.00 cup gun from harbor frieght. Cleans up well with lacquer thinner.

As to where to get, I buy nearly all products locally. Recently bought 4 600' rolls 15/16 edge banding from Rugby. Edge banding in 600' rolls can be purchased for about 50.00 online at WWW.hdlusa.com.

Our current commercial job we are doing all counter tops square edged and would have cost me around 5000.00 to pay counter top shop do it but I bought material for around 2000.00 and have about 60 hours labor invested.

EDIT : when I stated "PSA " I may be using incorrect terminology, stuff we used was "peel and stick " and no iron was required. Or just maybe that was where we went wrong in 2008. LOL


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

molly,

There is an iron made especially for applying edge banding, but it cost about $50-60.00. I use one of my wifes old irons that she gave me just to do edge banding…..it was about $20.00 at the time….And as a side note, it doesn't hurt the iron to use to it to do edge banding…...


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

A tool called a "tacking iron" works well. Usually used for heat sealing
plastic materials I think. Model airplane people use them so they
are to be found at garage sales and flee markets if you know what
they look like.

Most any iron works, really. A heat gun works too.

I've only used the heat-activated edge banding. I was told
by somebody who would know that if done right the PSA 
banding will hold for 20 years. I haven't used it much myself.

I trust the iron-on stuff. If you get it good an hot enough and
roll it down firmly, it makes a really strong bond.


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## Stormin (Oct 6, 2010)

I bought an old Iron for $2.00 at a garage sale it works fine. I use a piece of paper in between the iron and the edge banding it keeps it clean and free of marks. Usually a brown paper bag free of ink.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

Res:

I like to use the Pre-Glued/Heat edge banding. Fast, Easy to use. and holds exceptionally well.

I even have the Pleasure of using my EX-Wifes Old Iron!!! As Rick said It doesn't do any harm to the iron. I wouldn't use it if it did. I need it to Press my Shirts, Jeans & Underwear with it.

I did a little test one day. I applied Carpenters Glue to the Pre-Glued, gave it about 3/5 minutes to get a little Tacky then used an OLD Formica Roller (ie. Contact Cement Days ) to put it on a scrap piece of 3/4in Ply. An Hour later you would of had to use a Chisel to get it off. Probably not a usefull "Test" for much of anything, just one of "Things" I wanted to try.

Rick


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Another vote for the pre-glued and old yard sale iron.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Res,

As Rick stated above, once glued down with an iron, that veneer ain't going anywhere…...I've used it for years, and never had a piece come off or pull up on anything I built, either for a customer, or myself…good stuff… Rick, do you use spray starch when you iron your underwear? I think that would make them a little stiff, and scratchy…..lol.


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## Resurrected (Jan 11, 2011)

Yea I used my wifes, but I was thinking. If I was going to buy something to keep in the shop I'd probably just buy another house iron.


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## DMIHOMECENTER (Mar 5, 2011)

Older thread, but…

Woodcraft has this model for $34.99 (much less than the Rockler offering).









http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004942/7852/Veneer-Edge-Banding-Iron.aspx

The reviews are very polarized. I'll post a review after I live with it for awhile (or at least run all of the 50 feet of glued edging I have).


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## Earlextech (Jan 13, 2011)

$10 teflon coated iron from Walmart! Larger coverage than tacking iron. 
Pre glued edgeband. 15/16" Rugby $50 give or take!
Happiest day of my career, the day the auto edgebander arrived!!!


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

Several comments:

I started with an earler model than this. It's a hot bar, so you can't use vinyl products. We used it for years, dental offices, vet clinics, and it never failed. I added a little squirrel cage fan to blow cool air on the product right after it left the pressure roller.

Moved to a more sophisticated self-feed unit with auto cutoff on the back end, about a $2k investment as I recall. Again a real workhorse but it eventually went away. Now I'm down to a hot air machine exactly like this and it serves well with a small footprint. The onboard cutter does not work on wood, so I Edisoned a permanently mounted tin snip manual cutter.

I also have the Virutex portable and that gets called up for long pieces and curvy stuff.

If you are doing things that require more than a few feet of EB, I'd suggest the tabletop one. I think it stands a good chance of being one of those, "I didn't realize how much I'd be using it!" tools.

The first secret to dependable bond is the temperature. After several weeks of random failures, I put an oven thermometer in the line of the hot air, fastened down with a magnet. (It has to be moved to adjust the tape guides.) It takes much longer to get to operating temp than I had thought. When I read 180F on the thermo, I start banding. It takes over 5 minutes to get there.

The second secret is rapid cooling. Some folks use a moist rag and follow the McGraw Edison iron with it and pressure. You'll note on all the machines that there's a long piece of metal following the application wheel. That's a heat sink.

There is a shelf life to preglued material, so if you see a large dusty roll on the bottom shelf in a thrift store, it might be advisable to leverite there.

One more comment in this windy post. I have used the Fastcap peel and stick stuff for emergency, and the book on it is, after you apply it with good pressure, it needs to be at room temp for a while. I don't know why, but it bonds better.

Good to see that folks are using laminate rollers. Pressure on the glue bond is very important, esp when you're using the preglued hot melt. It drives it into the porosity of the chipboard for a really good result.

One more thought. Pros will tell you there are small but significant differences brand to brand. My counsel is to find a brand that works reasonably well for you and, ahem, stick with it. My artist friend George often says, "You've got to find out how your material reacts before you can make the most of it" and that applies here.

Kindly,

Lee


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## LeeBarker (Aug 6, 2010)

David, I have that same iron, real old. I mean, script on the label! It gets used for touchup and small applications. Quick heatup.

I'm curious if it's still made in the US. Anyone?

Kindly,

Lee


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## DMIHOMECENTER (Mar 5, 2011)

@Lee Barker, It is made in Tiawan, ROC. It heats quickly and definitely melts the glue, but I have not used it for enough feet to develop an opinion yet.

What edge trimmer or method of edge trimming do you recommend ? There's all kinds of plastic bladed contraptions, but I'd like to get the best one first if I can get some recommendations.

Regards,

David Grimes


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

David,

I'll give you my recommendation: I've used the Veritas (it's blue) for years and years and years, and it still works really good. Once heated, I let the e.b. set for a couple of minutes, to cool down. Then I use the Veritas, paying attention to the direction of the grain, and trim it off. If the grain pattern changes, I just reverse the direction I goto get a smooth cut. Then I take some 320 on a small sanding block and smooth up the edges, and it removes any left-over glue, also…....Done. I've probably trimmed a couple hundred feet of this stuff, and still using the same blades that came with it….I like it, cause it's spring-loaded to fit different widths of ply from 1/2" all the way to 13/16". This is my recommendation…..


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## DMIHOMECENTER (Mar 5, 2011)

Is this the one (A in the pic) you recommend ?

http://www.leevalley.com/us/hardware/page.aspx

?c=&p=42536&cat=3,43738


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

YEP…...that's the one. If you go that route, you might think about getting an extra set of blades, too.

I think I bought mine at Woodworkers Supply, but it's the same trimmer.

Don't forget the edge roller, too. Also called a "J roller"......


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## DMIHOMECENTER (Mar 5, 2011)

Thanks, Rick. That will be what I get. :=)


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## BobTheFish (May 31, 2011)

Since I'm only doing edges for works I veneer with raw veneers, I don't even bother buying seperate banding. I just veneer with the same woods as the tops.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I'm like Bob above, I work with my own veneer stock. No question on the glue, hide glue is just too easy and the bond is instant and permanent.


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