Need info about edge banding

[harry strasil]

I got some edge banding for a small project, but I couldn't warrant buying an expensive heating iron. Can I use an ordinary household iron and what temperature do I need to use to get a good bond?

Thanks for any help!

[David DeCristoforo]

You bet. Set it on max and go at it. Burnish the banding down with a the rounded edge of a block of wood before the hot melt glue completely cools.

[harry strasil]

Thank You so much David!

[Mike Siemsen]

After you iron it down a steel roller can be employed called a chill roller which helps the glue set a bit faster. I typically use a rubber Jay roller. After you get the edge banding attached use a flat file to trim the edges, hold the file almost flat to the face of the sheet like you were trying to file the face only and use the teeth on the edge of the file to trim the edging. Practice on scrap.
Mike
I have put on and trimmed miles of this stuff.

[harry strasil]

Boy, do I love this place, what we don't do to make Mama Happy. And Info is just a question and a click away. And in this case in 2 minutes time. What a great resource and a great place to Associate with some Great, Knowledgable and Helpful and Friendly People.

[harry strasil]

Thank You, Mike, but I did purchase a double edge trimmer when I bought the roll of banding. And, I just got the roll of banding out and the instructions on using a household iron were on the back.

[Jim Koepke]

just got the roll of banding out and the instructions on using a household iron were on the back.

Don'tcha just hate when that happens?

Somewhere there are always instructions.

The one that gets me used to be on micro wave popcorn. I would peel the plastic off and unfold the bag and there were the instructions. The first instruction was to remove the plastic film. I just about wore my fingernails down to a nub trying to peel off more plastic.

jim

[Don Rogers]

While not trying to hyjack this thread, the topic prompted me to ask the following banding question.

I purchased a rather large roll of 0.020 x 1" maple banding at a flea market thinking it was just wood veneer and meant to be glued. It probably was surplus from a furniture factory.

After looking closer, the back side looks slightly rough as though it either is coated with something that looks like rougher maple - or - it maybe it is maple sanded rougher for gluing purposes.

After reading this thread, I tried applying it with a hot iron but it would not stick and have decided that it was not meant to be applied that way. Scraping the back side produces a kind of fuzz that does not look like the scrapings of the finish side.

Could it have a coating meant for some other method of application? Or could it have a coating meant to reinforce it?

DonR

[Kent A Bathurst]

Don'tcha just hate when that happens?

Somewhere there are always instructions.



As a teenager (knowing everything there was to know) it used to really p**s me off when my Dad would look over and say "When all else fails, read the instructions." Worked every time, of course, but still..........

[harry strasil]

could what you have be for chair bottom stuff.

[harry strasil]

For me it was just a case of operating tongue err Fingers before engaging brain this time. I knew I had it and before getting it out and using it I wanted to know if the iron would work. The bad part is I wear size 15 shoes, maybe the wife could loan me one of her size 8's? LOL At least its funny now, and youse guys got a laugh out of it.

[Jim Koepke]

Don,

Have you looked at this with a powerful magnifier?

I have seen cloth backing on thin strips of wood. I think it is to help adhesion and strength.

jim

[Richard Dooling]

FWIW
I used a lot of the iron on banding back in the 80s and we never used anything but a household iron.

Bitter experience also taught us to be very careful to bevel the edge even more than with Formica. The wood is more delicate and will chip or splinter if it gets caught by the edge of something coming off a shelf for example.

We also learned to be sure that the material being glued to needed to be pretty smooth as the hot glue is less forgiving than a heavy coating of contact cement. It doesn't fill in small voids well - at least not the stuff we had back then.


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[Rob Young]

Harry has already gotten the replies he needed but for those needing a more visual answer:

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-33-on-the-edge/

Rob

[Don Rogers]

Harry,

I don't know what "chair bottom stuff" is . This is 0.020" thick x 1" wide and my best guess would be that it's edge banding. I have used it to edge band a plywood fixture and it glues on well with PVC glue

Jim,

A magnifier does not seem to tell me much but the scrapings look more like cotton than wood fibers. It probably has a very thin fabric-like coating to add to its strength and adhesion properties. It is definately not something that can be peeled off.

This was one of my many "bargain" purchases. I should be banned from flea markets!

DonR

[Richard Dooling]

Now that I think about it I do recall seeing edge banding w/o the hot glue. This from veneersupplies.com:

"Our real wood veneer edge-banding comes with a fleece-backing and is pre-sanded. The color-matched fleece backing is designed to blend with the veneer and substrate. This premium edge-banding does not have glue applied. It is designed for use with commercial edge-banding machines."

So if you have several thousand for a dedicated bander - you got a deal!

Seriously you could band short runs like shelves with cauls and clamps or perhaps treat it like Formica and use contact cement.

.

[Don Rogers]

Now that I think about it I do recall seeing edge banding w/o the hot glue. This from veneersupplies.com:

"Our real wood veneer edge-banding comes with a fleece-backing and is pre-sanded. The color-matched fleece backing is designed to blend with the veneer and substrate. This premium edge-banding does not have glue applied. It is designed for use with commercial edge-banding machines."

So if you have several thousand for a dedicated bander - you got a deal!

Seriously you could band short runs like shelves with cauls and clamps or perhaps treat it like Formica and use contact cement.

.

Richard,

That description sounds exactly like what I have. Until you look closely, the backing side looks like unsanded maple. It seems to work well with PVC glue and for my purposes a dedicated bander is not needed. I will check out veneersupplies.com to see what else I can learn. The roll contains 500 feet of maple banding so I will have to work at finding uses for it.

Thank you, Harry, and Jim for your input.

DonR

[Callan Campbell]

[QUOTE=Don Rogers;1362943]Harry,

I don't know what "chair bottom stuff" is . This is 0.020" thick x 1" wide and my best guess would be that it's edge banding. I have used it to edge band a plywood fixture and it glues on well with PVC glue
Harry meant the thin strips you'd use to weave a chair bottom with, like reed or something like it. Sounds like you figured out what you bought already.

[David DeCristoforo]

"While not trying to hyjack this thread,..."

What you have is unglued banding intended to to be used in an edgebanding machine with a glue pot. Most unglued banding is paper backed which is what is making the "fuzz". You can glue this stuff with contact cement or BetterBond (or whatever) but it's easier to just get some pre-glued "iron-on" banding.

[Don Rogers]

"While not trying to hyjack this thread,..."

What you have is unglued banding intended to to be used in an edgebanding machine with a glue pot. Most unglued banding is paper backed which is what is making the "fuzz". You can glue this stuff with contact cement or BetterBond (or whatever) but it's easier to just get some pre-glued "iron-on" banding.

David,

Thanks for the information. I bought this 500' roll at a bargain price but had no real use for it as edge banding at the time. I was thinking about doubling it and using it on edge for guitar purfling but was concerned that the backing might be visable. Looks like I better experiment before doing that.

As background, I had lots of trouble slicing maple veneer sheets to about 1/4" wide for the purfling and when I came across this banding it looked like a lifetime supply even if I did ruin most of it. I'll just have to give it a try.

DonR

[Richard Dooling]

Please excuse the primitive drawing and I’m not a tool maker but it seems like something along these lines might be possible.

Set a scraper in support blocks and pull the banding through a set gap to scrape off the backing. I’ve been wondering about something like this to remove saw marks from thin strips for splines.

You would need to experiment with various angels. Then again someone with more experience might say this will not work.


144171
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[David DeCristoforo]

"I'll just have to give it a try..."

You may run into another "problem" caused by the fact that edge tape is typically made up of tons of short pieces that spliced with finger joints. Look closely and you can see them. Might not work out too good for purfling, especially once you scrape off the paper backing...

[george wilson]

You can just glue it on. However,getting glue on the FRONT of the veneer banding is most likely going to happen. I don't know if you're going to stain the banding after you glue it on.The glue will greatly affect any staining if it gets on top of the veneer,and it might be too thin to really get rid of glue that sank in. I recommend a coat of finish,stain,etc. BEFORE you apply the banding.

Contact cement has a habit of letting go later on,and is also the worst stuff if you have a slight misalignment problem. I'd recommend just using regular white glue for interior work. Hide glue would be my first choice. You can sit a bottle of liquid hide glue in a pot of hot water before applying it. Hide glue slip ups are the easiest to wipe clean.

[Don Rogers]

[QUOTE=Richard Dooling;1364066]Please excuse the primitive drawing and I’m not a tool maker but it seems like something along these lines might be possible.

Set a scraper in support blocks and pull the banding through a set gap to scrape off the backing. I’ve been wondering about something like this to remove saw marks from thin strips for splines.

You would need to experiment with various angels. Then again someone with more experience might say this will not work.


144171
.[/QUOTE

Richard,

That's a good idea. I will give it a try.

Thanks,

DonR]

[Don Rogers]

"I'll just have to give it a try..."

You may run into another "problem" caused by the fact that edge tape is typically made up of tons of short pieces that spliced with finger joints. Look closely and you can see them. Might not work out too good for purfling, especially once you scrape off the paper backing...

David,

I had not thought about it being spliced but, of course, it must be. I'll remember to look for and to avoid the splices.

Thanks again,

DonR

[Don Rogers]

You can just glue it on. However,getting glue on the FRONT of the veneer banding is most likely going to happen. I don't know if you're going to stain the banding after you glue it on.The glue will greatly affect any staining if it gets on top of the veneer,and it might be too thin to really get rid of glue that sank in. I recommend a coat of finish,stain,etc. BEFORE you apply the banding.

Contact cement has a habit of letting go later on,and is also the worst stuff if you have a slight misalignment problem. I'd recommend just using regular white glue for interior work. Hide glue would be my first choice. You can sit a bottle of liquid hide glue in a pot of hot water before applying it. Hide glue slip ups are the easiest to wipe clean.

George,

So far I have only used it for edge banding a plywood carrier to hold a piece of plate glass for sharpening purposes. In that case, the finished carrier was given a couple coats of sanding sealer without regard for any glue spills. The sealer is PVC based and seemed to match any PVC glue that may have been on the veneer surface. Your point has been noted and for "good" work stain should be applied before gluing. I probably would not have thought of that.

Yes, I prefer glue over contact cement. It's been a long time since I used hide glue and that was in a violin making course. I have been thinking about trying the liquid type hide glue and will remember your tip about heating it first.

Thank you,

DonR

[Richard Niemiec]

I'm about to do some melamine banding for a custom closet installation, and my bride wouldn't let me use her regular iron! I couldn't believe that Walmart sells a 2/3 size Proctor Silex iron for less than $7, perfect for the task. So the banding will get done and the bride is happy - who could ask for more.