Edge banding to pre-finished boxes

[sebastian phillips]

Hi, hoping for some advice on finishing edge banding that has been attached to pre-finished boxes.
I'm a face frame guy, but have a few Euro style boxes to do: 1/2" banding to be stained and top coated to match doors/fronts. The case components are all 3/4" pre-fin.
I plan on banding/trimming the case parts before assembly, and that raises my question-finishing the banding seems like a large pain and expense.
Would you finish the banding before assembling the case? It's a Mohawk wiping stain so I can see this step being easy, should wipe right off the pre-fin. But the top coats are sprayed on doors etc. I don't want to be spraying already pre-finished box parts just to hit a small banding.
I'm gonna do some trial runs, first thought is the aerosol cans would be fine for this, since overspray would be behind the doors...
A long winded question, but any advice appreciated.

[Michael Zerance]

I recently fabricated a built-in with pre-finished maple interiors and edge banding. The doors and edge banding were to be painted. We assembled everything first, then taped off the interiors with blue tape and plastic, and then sprayed the finish. It was time consuming but the results were good; there was a nice crisp line between the paint and the maple (see pics). It is probably the last time I build a project in that manner; it was costly and I could have done it faster and better with a face frame.

I much prefer the look, design, fabrication, and finishing aspects of building with a face-frame. I had an employee in the shop that was really pushing edgebanding and frameless design. For production cabinets, sure, if you have the right equipment. For smaller-scale custom built-ins, vanities, etc., it just doesn't work (for me, anyway).

Sorry, I don't have any better pictures:


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[Gerry Grzadzinski]

We finish the edgebanding prior to assembling the boxes. It's a lot faster, especially if you have a lot of them.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yeah, finishing the banding before assembly is the way to go. Trim the banding flush. Then put tape on the prefinished. Then stain and topcoat the banding. I'd wipe on the stain, and likely wipe on or brush on the topcoat. It will be hidden, so it doesn't have to be the most-perfect job. But if you want to spray, just do a larger job of masking off the prefin - that's just a bit more paper.

Doing the whole job post-assembly would be much more hassle. You can't cleanly tape it, and you can't cleanly spray it.

[sebastian phillips]

Beautiful Michael! My thoughts on FF's mirror yours.
I guess I'm going to have tape off and spray..
Wondering why you waited to spray till after assembly? Seems like what Gerry does is quicker easier.
I appreciate the replies.
Seb

[Michael Zerance]

I can't say whether this is right or wrong...just the way I did it on this one with good results:

I assembled first so that I could fill and sand any joints and seams in the edgebanding. It made for a seamless appearance but, in hindsight, it was probably wasted effort because most of those joints would have been hidden by the doors. I do think that it made for a better appearance overall and the price of this project justified the extra effort; if the customer was looking for something more economical, I would have done it in a way that was quicker and easier. The edgebanding I used was actually cut out of a sheet of veneer so that it was wide enough to cover pieces where I doubled up for scribing to the walls and the buildup for the light rail where I created a hidden cavity for the undercabinet light wiring.

[George Skinner]

You really don't need to mask anything off. Stain is easily wiped on and if you get any on the prefinished plywood it wipes off. We just use a foam roller to apply the finish to the edgebanded edges. Been doing it this way for years. Sand between coats of finish and turns out fine. Usually while I am cleaning up the spray equipment someone else is using the leftover finish to roll on the banding.

[sebastian phillips]

[QUOTE=Michael Zerance;2510577]I can't say whether this is right or wrong...just the way I did it on this one with good results:

That's what counts, again, looks great.

[sebastian phillips]

This sounds like a time saver. Do you get any "discrepancies" where the banding meets the box, i.e. does the rolled on finish that gets onto the case look "different" than the pre-fin (especially in high visibility spots like the bottom deck of the uppers)?
Thanks,
Seb

[Justin Ludwig]

Order a prefinished edgebanding. Problem solved.

[George Skinner]

With the foam roller and not applying a heavy coat no finish really gets on the prefinished plywood. I am using one of the little 3" foam rollers.

[Joe O'Connor]

I banded my kitchen cabinets with 1/4 x 3/4 stripes of walnut that I stained and sprayed before I installed it. I put it on with glue and 23 gal pins. I thought I would fill the holes with colored wax but I hardly notice the holes and just left them.