Flush Trimming Edge banding on Prefinished Birch with Festool MFK700

[Sean Leonard]

Question for those of you with the MFK700 and how you're set up to trim prefinished plywood with it. I have the MFK700 EQ/B that shipped with the vertical base only, and no bits. I purchased the bit Festool plane bit (500368) and the 2mm radius bit (499809) but haven't been able to use the router to get a clean trim on my prefinished birch without marring the surface of the plywood or cutting into the plywood veneer. I've watched some videos of the Festool reps using the trimmer, but I'm not getting the same results as they show. Even Mark Spagnuolo had a video where he touted the great job of the MFK.

Gotta be honest, I've found it's easier and faster to use the razor trimmers, but with the double-sided razors there's always some level of tearout with the side going against the grain. For professional looking cabinets, it's just not acceptable.

I need a solution that will give the cleanest, closest trim on my edgebanding, without marring the surface of prefinished birch plywood. Not sure if the horizontal base with a flush trim bit would be the better option for the MFK?

Sean

[ChrisA Edwards]

I use the MFK700 for my edge banding. I do use the horizontal base with the flush trim bit.

The horizontal base allows fine adjustment of the router bit, to the work surface, in both X and Y direction. I think you are missing that flexibility with just the vertical base.

The only "gotta" in this mode, the edge banding cannot be more than 5/8" deep as that's the max cutter depth, that this base will accept, without making modification to it. There is a video, on Youtube, by Half-Inch Shy that details this. This might be the video

.

Also if you strip of edge banding has more the 1/8" of waste, it can be a little hard to start trimming as this stops the horizontal base resting down on the panel.

[Richard Coers]

Since you are talking about a razor trimmer, I guess you are talking about iron on veneer edge banding? I use a chisel, much quieter!

[Erik Loza]

Pretty much everyone I know who uses a hand-held bander, follows with a chisel. IMO, it's asking a lot for one of these (brand doesn't matter- Felder sells them too) to give a finish-quality edge like a stand-alone bander would. I would pretty much class any of these as "appliers" rather than "finishers". Not sure if that's the answer you were hoping for but it's what I've seen.

Erik

[Warren Lake]

pro shops use lipping tools. Either custom made or the ones that are available. They can run solid up to 2" or more. In that case if butted to laminate they leave a very fine amount .010 - .020 and chisel clean up. If its veneer its not as critical if the cutter is into the veneer its so minimal it comes out in sanding. The router bit way to trim larger solid is not close to a lipping tool. The only thing that I can see it being better is on a very small edge banding and thats a maybe. Yours shows a radius and the lipping tool wont do that but it will trim flush and a lam trimmer could do the profile. Shops that did lots of laminate did stuff that way in two steps. One would flush and the second trimmer would bevel. Hoffman is one of the commercial lipping tools. When the tool is set up you could put a 1`solid edge on and walk down the panel end to end and its easy and fast. I think Hoffman has a you tube. how are you going to finish that edge to a prefinished panel?

[Sean Leonard]

Thanks for the feedback. Chris, the horizontal base makes better sense to me, but I caught this video of Brian Sedgeley showing off the whole Conturo system--which is what I'm using--including the vertical base on the MFK700. Granted, he was trimming PVC on melamine in the video so there was no grain to tear out. I haven't been able to duplicate that nice "perfect edge" Festool advertises with this system.

Richard, I suppose I could use my chisel and just slightly bevel it up and away from the prefinished surface. I may try that before buying the horizontal base for the MFK700.

I'm using fleece-backed, prefinished birch banding for the prefinished panels Warren.

[Warren Lake]

never heard of it how do you finish it after you trim it?

[Sean Leonard]

I don't. It's already finished edge tape. I get it from my supplier this way.

[Warren Lake]

I see now it says 2MM edge trim bit, how thick is it sounds like its just regular veneer with a backer. I was thinking this was solid 2MM.

[David Zaret]

i do a lot of edging of prefinished birch with the conturo and the festool trim router. 1.5mm maple edge banding, no backer, and i'm using the 3 degree plate. dial it in carefully, and i find that climb cutting on the first pass keeps the glue from gumming up, then pull back on the second pass slowly. then, i take a medium file and lightly hit the edge. odie's oil is my go-to on the natural maple and edge, and it removes any glue residue. yet to hear a complaint.

-- dz

[Warren Lake]

thanks I misread thinking it was thicker.