High school teacher looking for edge bander

[hillel posner]

Well the title pretty much says it. I have a decent beginning furniture making class but we really should be doing more cabinetry and case work. Thus far our edging has been iron on or 3/16" solid glued and nailed. I'd like to get a more professional machine but don't really have the space for a large stationary tool (I could do a small / mid size stationary tool or hand held). I have a few thousand dollars but I certainly don't NEED to spend it all on this. What do you suggest? ALSO, we do a lot of varied projects, so being able to use different materials and go around curves is a must.

Let me have it folks. What should I buy?

[Loren Woirhaye]

Consider a hot edge press. They are hard to find but require almost no maintenance and are nearly foolproof with nothing to break. Terry Cain wrote a good article on edgebanding with a press. New they are very pricey but used ones can be found. There was an overpriced Manuraka on ebay for awhile. Mine is a Hess and I've seen Stegherr's for sale a couple of times. The expense of getting one shipped from Europe may be prohibitive but the cost of the machine could be as little as five hundred bucks.

You can get a used autofeed machine, but it will almost certainly be a maintenance headache for you. I would expect a handheld glue pot edgebander may not hold up in a high school shop.

[nicholas mitchell]

What does "a few thousand dollars" mean? $3000 or $28000 ? I'll assume the former. Your choices are really a portable edgebander (around $3k) or a hot air edgebander (used $3-5k).
The portable glue pot handers actually work very well. They are tricky to get used to but once sorted out are capable of doing straight and curved banding from 0.4 to 3mm thick. Edge width is usually 45mm to 60mm. You can also mount them in a table to make them stationary. This might eliminate
some of the abuse your wonderful students will put it through.
Hot air handers are your next option. They have a small footprint and produce almost acceptable results. Probably more than adequate for your needs. Check the used market dealers as these are often up for sale.
The thing about edgebanders is they're the most abused machine in a pro shop. If the shop is busy they never get maintained and there are an incredible number of things to go wrong and fall out of adjustment. Try and get one from a hobby shop or you'll just be inheriting someone else's headaches.
If it was me, i'd go the portable bander and mount it in a table. Let me know if you have any other questions about brands or specs

edit; to get a stationary contour bander that's worth having, you'll need to spend $10k used

[Jeff Duncan]

I'd look for something like a used SCM Basic as they're fairly small footprints and are as the name says….pretty basic. Smaller machines can also be mounted on HD casters which is very advantageous as the in-feed out-feed room is substantial on these machines. I probably wouldn't bother with a smaller handheld or air bander as you ideally are going to want the ability to work with PVC banding. Best bet may be to find a good local tech first and then start looking for a good used machine. That way you have someone working for you who can inspect the machine and weed out the lemons ahead of time;)

I found my machine, a well used Holzher, locally for $2k ready to go. It's a mid sized machine that will do up to 3mm, (supposedly), or strips and has top/bottom trim as well as buffing. I still spent a couple hundred to have a tech come in and set it up once it was delivered. It's not a perfect machine by far, but an older finicky working bander is much better than no bander;)

Oh and forget about finding a bander to do curves. That's a specialty machine and unless all you do is curves your probably not going to justify the cost of one. I know they're out there but I've yet to see one in a millwork shop.

good luck,
JeffD

[hillel posner]

Thank you!!
I guess the curves can wait!!
It does seem like the hand held ones come in 3 varieties. The portable hot air ones for around $500 (grizzly) the stationary hot air ones for a little more, and the melt glue pot ones for 2-3k from europe. I'd like to get a small footprint machine but the school doesn't let me buy used ones and I'd like to stay under $3000. Can anybody compare the cheaper hot air ones with the european glue pots? Is there something else I am missing.
Thank you so much!

[Erik Loza]

...Can anybody compare the cheaper hot air ones with the european glue pots? Is there something else I am missing.
Thank you so much!

Apples to oranges. The glue pot machines (stationary, not hand held) will typically be bigger, faster, and sometimes have features like scraping and buffing.

My suggestion would be to not look at a used bander. Reason being that unless you are very experienced at working on banders, used/auction ones can be real money pits and also, parts may be difficult to find. My dad was a high school industrial arts teacher for many years and I know how little tolerance schools have for machines that don'e work, so....

If I were you, I would look into a new hand-held bander. There are many brands out there. It just seems to make the most sense for your budget.

Best of luck with it.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Peter Kelly]

Thank you!!
I guess the curves can wait!!
It does seem like the hand held ones come in 3 varieties. The portable hot air ones for around $500 (grizzly) the stationary hot air ones for a little more, and the melt glue pot ones for 2-3k from europe. I'd like to get a small footprint machine but the school doesn't let me buy used ones and I'd like to stay under $3000. Can anybody compare the cheaper hot air ones with the european glue pots? Is there something else I am missing.
Thank you so much!There was a thread on edgebanders recently too: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?213662-edgebander

[nicholas mitchell]

you might as well stick to an iron if you're going to get that Grizzly thing for 500 bucks, looks like a packing tape dispenser with a heat gun attached, which is probably exactly what it is.
You need to look at the Co-matic/Le-matic brand. They're sold in the U.S. by Cantek. They're a Taiwan company that makes excellent power feeders and these portable edgebanders.. In fact the Felder Forka Eco is actually a Le-matic, rebadged.
It will do everything you need it to. It does pvc and solid strips, curves and straight edges.
Search youtube for co-matic/le-matic for a few useful videos.

[Jamie Buxton]

It does seem like the hand held ones come in 3 varieties. The portable hot air ones for around $500 (grizzly) the stationary hot air ones for a little more, and the melt glue pot ones for 2-3k from europe. I'd like to get a small footprint machine but the school doesn't let me buy used ones and I'd like to stay under $3000. Can anybody compare the cheaper hot air ones with the european glue pots? Is there something else I am missing.
Thank you so much!

AFAIK, the little hot air edgebanders apply only veneer tape with hot-melt glue. In my view, they're little different from an old clothes iron. The portable glue-pot ones can apply thicker (more ding resistant) banding.

[Matt Meiser]

If your goal is results, not the process (and I can understand the process of using a commercial edgebander being considered to be important--just depends on your goals for the class) for slightly more material cost and 0 equipment cost other than trimming tools, consider using the Fastcap self-stick edgebanding. I've had good luck with it and there's a good variety of materials. I've used both unfinished real wood and a PVC that perfectly matches the prefinished ply I use.

[Michael Kuzian]

Ive used the Lematic handheld bander at the wood show in vegas. It was very simple to use and I almost purchased one, but being more of a production type shop I ended up buying a laguna, mainly because it was a one step process. The Lematic did require more steps for trimming / buffing etc. The Lematic is a nice unit tho and I can see myself buying one in the future beause I seem to be doing more contour edging as time goes on.

On a side note, The people at Lematic were very helpful, I wouldn't be surprised if you call up and mention that you're a teacher and they offer you a discount. They offered me %10 off just because I mentioned the wood show, good luck!