Jamie Buxton
04-10-2011, 11:33 PM
There's a zillion ways to trim edgebanding, but this is how I like to do it....
I really dislike veneer-tape edgebanding. The corners are fragile, and need to be knife-sharp to avoid exposing the substrate. Solid lumber edgebanding is more ding-resistant, and I can round the corners to make it friendlier to the touch. I make my banding about an eighth of an inch thick. I cut it wider than the plywood, glue it on, and trim it flush. There's lots of ways to trim it. Even in a non-Neanderthal shop, hand tools do it well. A handplace and a cabinet scraper do the job quickly and easily, with little risk of damaging the face veneer. The key element is a light set so that the banding casts a long shadow over the plywood face. The first photo here is the overall setup, with a sample edgebanded workpiece, a light, and the hand tools. The second photo is a view from directly above the workpiece. You can see the long shadow cast by the banding. Near the top of the photo, the shadow is longer, indicating that the banding is standing taller above the plywood face than at the bottom of the photo. In the third photo, I've taken some plane strokes near the bottom of the pic, so the shadow has shrunk to zero. There's still work to do at the top of the photo. The shadow lets you see clearly where to work. I like to hold the plane with its heel on the plywood (fourth photo). I get close with the plane, then take the last few thousandths off with the cabinet scraper. It likes to cut the slightly-raised edge of the banding, but skims across the veneer face, so it really acts as a flush trimmer. The fifth photo is a close-up of a trimmed piece. You can see the banding, but no scarring on the face veneer.
This method is quiet, which is nice. It is also reasonably quick. Today I trimmed the banding on nine shelves in about twenty minutes, while stopping to take photos.
I really dislike veneer-tape edgebanding. The corners are fragile, and need to be knife-sharp to avoid exposing the substrate. Solid lumber edgebanding is more ding-resistant, and I can round the corners to make it friendlier to the touch. I make my banding about an eighth of an inch thick. I cut it wider than the plywood, glue it on, and trim it flush. There's lots of ways to trim it. Even in a non-Neanderthal shop, hand tools do it well. A handplace and a cabinet scraper do the job quickly and easily, with little risk of damaging the face veneer. The key element is a light set so that the banding casts a long shadow over the plywood face. The first photo here is the overall setup, with a sample edgebanded workpiece, a light, and the hand tools. The second photo is a view from directly above the workpiece. You can see the long shadow cast by the banding. Near the top of the photo, the shadow is longer, indicating that the banding is standing taller above the plywood face than at the bottom of the photo. In the third photo, I've taken some plane strokes near the bottom of the pic, so the shadow has shrunk to zero. There's still work to do at the top of the photo. The shadow lets you see clearly where to work. I like to hold the plane with its heel on the plywood (fourth photo). I get close with the plane, then take the last few thousandths off with the cabinet scraper. It likes to cut the slightly-raised edge of the banding, but skims across the veneer face, so it really acts as a flush trimmer. The fifth photo is a close-up of a trimmed piece. You can see the banding, but no scarring on the face veneer.
This method is quiet, which is nice. It is also reasonably quick. Today I trimmed the banding on nine shelves in about twenty minutes, while stopping to take photos.