Consolidated FAQ for the CONTURO Edge Bander

[Shane Holland]

For those of you who have used the Conturo, would you recommend the table if you are not doing bevels? I guess I am looking at hand held verse table use.  is it worth it (not a financial question) for helping with use of the unit.As i age gracefully, looking at ease of use, not speed.

If you're working with small pieces, the table is good to have. It's easier to push a small piece along the table than to try to balance the machine on it.  [wink]

 

[ccarrolladams]

Although my custom cabinet shop has a very fine automatic edge bander, it requires a lot of time to change setups. Therefore I pre-ordered two Conturo and one of the tables.

Sure enough the Conturo earn their keep doing short-run jobs reducing lost time re-setting the auto machine. Since all of us are used to bringing work to the large auto bander, we simply built an extension out and in feed support for the Conturo's table.

All of the curve and bevel jobs we do with the unmounted Conturo.

Trust me, for us the Conturo system is a great investment. Of course we do a lot of edge banding. Your mileage will vary, so I do not promise an investment in a Conturo is right for every shop. On the other hand you need to do a lot of banding to justify an auto machine. Had the Conturo been available in 2010 I never would have dedicated the space and spent the money on the auto bander!

 

[tjbnwi]

Steve, I recall the trimmer being able to cut the edge band corners at 45º. That should solve the round over issue.

Tom

 

[Carl Prentiss]

To answer my own question, I've drawn inferences from the review by [member=11196]Peter Parfitt[/member] ,* that 2 pucks show 17.1 meters of adhesive application on the tool's info screen. The banding width setting looks like about 20 mm.
  That equates to 28' per puck.
  $2.81 per puck including tax = approx. $.10 a foot for adhesive.

* If Peter did any significant editing of his video, well then this whole calculation goes out the window.

 

[Shane Holland]

I seem to recall it about 8 meters, give or take, per puck or around 26½ feet on 3/4".

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Thanks Shane. That's closer than I thought I'd be peering over Peter's shoulder at his demo machine [eek]

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Charlie and Shane

I did not measure the glue usage as I think that it is documented in the Festool marketing info. As far as the film goes, there was no editing that gives any false impression of glue usage (forgive me - I know that you do not mean that there might be). I did not use a huge amount as the length of edging that Festool sent to me was only just enough to do the work shown in the video. I did have a quick go at a 2" wide bit of edging using some old Formica work top but the edging I had was brittle Formica and not designed for an edge bander. That used about 24 sq inches of glue.

Peter

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Hi Charlie and Shane

I did not measure the glue usage as I think that it is documented in the Festool marketing info. As far as the film goes, there was no editing that gives any false impression of glue usage (forgive me - I know that you do not mean that there might be).
Peter

Hi Peter,
  If they give any details on glue usage, its well hidden. I'd like to think I do SOME research before asking a question. That being said, there's always a chance I missed this info. Anyways, my reference to editing wasn't meant to imply any deceptiveness on your part. I only meant to say it was a stretch for me to make the many assumptions I did in making my calculations.
Best regards,
Charlie 

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Peter,
  If they give any details on glue usage, its well hidden. I'd like to think I do SOME research before asking a question. That being said, there's always a chance I missed this info. Anyways, my reference to editing wasn't meant to imply any deceptiveness on your part. I only meant to say it was a stretch for me to make the many assumptions I did in making my calculations.
Best regards,
Charlie

Hi Charlie,

I know what you meant in the original comment and realise completely that you were not questioning the veracity etc.

There is a chance that the figures that I am referring to came from the FOG or another forum as I am sure that I have seen them before. I could not really comment on them as I had nothing to compare them with as it was quite a while ago that I had been edge banding with one of the old fashioned designed machines.

Cheers.

Peter

 

[linnlp12]

A few days ago I discovered the conturo is only recommended for wood to 1 mm.  So the primary use with thick edgebanding is pvc .  I think the advertising for this unit needs to be more clear. I had hoped to do wood veneer 2mm and 3mm.  Maybe I should have known better. Trying decide now what I want to do.  I looked at 2mm veneer in Germany.  It seems pretty flexible so I am confused 

 

[tjbnwi]

A few days ago I discovered the conturo is only recommended for wood to 1 mm.  So the primary use with thick edgebanding is pvc .  I think the advertising for this unit needs to be more clear. I had hoped to do wood veneer 2mm and 3mm.  Maybe I should have known better. Trying decide now what I want to do.  I looked at 2mm veneer in Germany.  It seems pretty flexible so I am confused

Depends on the wood, it will do 3mm wood.

Tom

 

[Shane Holland]

Like Tom said, it depends on the banding. Some wood banding may work up to 3mm. The problem that exists is that the path the banding takes through the machine bends the banding. 3mm wood banding can be prone to snapping or cracking at those angles. I would suggest trying it on a piece of scrap.

 

[tjbnwi]

I had an opportunity to use my Conturo today. Actually I got to watch someone use my Conturo today after I showed him how to use the unit one the first piece. I did get to do the trimming. This was the tools maiden voyage, it was a pleasant journey to say the least.

The panel being edge banded was particle board core melamine. The edge banding was 3 mm PVC, about 80' total.

The Conturo is easy to set up and adjust. It was used hand held, balance of the unit is superb.

When we set up for the first pieces, temp setting 2 was used, 200ºC, that is what was recommend and we stayed with that setting. For the first run I increase the amount of glue 2 units over center. I chose to do this because of the core. After a few pieces I did change the amount setting to 2 units below center, plenty of glue, less squeeze out.

The 3 mm is very stiff to run. The Conturo ran and feed it just fine, it was getting the memory from the roll out of the band that was an issue. On the second run I decided to place the edge band in an oven set on Warm, about 120ºF. After about 5 minutes in the oven the edge banding was much more flexible and easier to set to the board edge. Only issue was tack time of the adhesive. It went from a few seconds to about 20 seconds, this did not affect the application at all.

One issue we did have was banding slide at times. A few of the bands were drug along by to much pressure on the roller, this caused the band to shift off the corner. If you back off some of the pressure the band will slide back in place. Once that occurs continue to apply the banding.

Guillotine trimmer is an excellent tool. Cut this 3.0 mm banding effortlessly.

The bit I had to trim the banding was the 1.5 mm round over with rotatable cutters. I do not have the 700 EQ/B or B base for this bit so I had to modify my 700 with a spacer. After a few test cut I discovered the bit would not work properly on the 3.0 mm. The bit would round over the edge but the flat cutting edge did not reach the board edge of the banding. I ended up using the 700 in the horizontal position with a 0º base and a 19 mm straight bit.

The carbide scraper is a tool you don't know you needed until you used one. To use the scraper make sure you wrap the cord as shown in the picture on the back of the Systainer it comes in. The cord rides against the face of the board and places the cutting edge at the proper angle. Having the cord in this position makes it much easier to use than the scraper flat against the face of the board.

The Conturo is a tool that does what it claims to do and does it well.

The modification I made to the 700 base. The spacer is 1/4" plywood, screws to make it work are 4mm x 0.7 x 12mm

Tom

 

[peter halle]

Tom,

Glad to read that you finally have one.  I wish you had one when you were doing the hotel job.

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

Tom,

Glad to read that you finally have one.  I wish you had one when you were doing the hotel job.

Peter

I picked one up with the accessory kit for a good price. From what I was told by the previous owner this is the first edge banding it has run.

Tom

 

[Paul Franklin]

Has anyone used the conturo to apply .5mm real wood veneer to plywood?

Thanks

Paul

 

[tjbnwi]

Has anyone used the conturo to apply .5mm real wood veneer to plywood?

Thanks

Paul

Yes.

I have some preglued I've been running through mine until I use it up. I've also run some PSA type through the Conturo, just need to make sure it stays clean.

I've run up to 2mm solid wood through the Conturo.

Tom

 

[Paul Franklin]

Tom

Thanks for the reply. But I am talking about using real veneer. I.e cut from sheets of veneer.

Anyone else tried this?

Regards

Paul

 

[tjbnwi]

Are you asking about applying to the edge or face?

If it's the edge, I can't see a reason it would not work.

Tom

 

[Paul Franklin]

Yes the edge.