conturo edgebander and 1/2 mm pvc edge banding melting the pvc

[nathan wooddy]

my shop currently has 2 large jobs that require thousands of feet of edgebanding, or biesie machine has quit on us so I purchased the conturo thinking it would save the day untill we can replace our big machine. I've used the conturo years back with excellent results using wood veneer, however, this new job requires 1/2mm pvc veneer. to my disappointment I discovered that it is melting the pvc veneer as the glue is laid down on it. We've dropped the heat but there doesn't seem to be a good middle ground if the glue is too cold it doesn't adhere properly to the mdf substrate. Does anyone have experience running 1/2mm pvc edgebanding. I looked for aftermarket glue pucks with a lower melting temp with no luck and I know that festool offers the PU glue but I can't find any real info on that in regard to weather it will help solve my problem. I've also increased speed hoping it would be less likely to melt. Ill take any help I can get.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That .5 mil stuff is just a pain in almost every situation. I avoid it if at all possible.
That being said, I have never used it with anything other than the big automatic machine or by hand....still sucks.
I have borrowed a Conturo for a few special jobs, but this was for wider and thicker edging. This was because the big production machines can't do a radius. It worked well for that.

I don't think it's really in the range of "thousands of feet" either. Conturo works great, but it is only part of the process. You still have to trim it off after. This is way too much handling for a large job with thousands of feet of edging.

 

[afish]

That .5 mil stuff is just a pain in almost every situation. I avoid it if at all possible.
That being said, I have never used it with anything other than the big automatic machine or by hand....still sucks.
I have borrowed a Conturo for a few special jobs, but this was for wider and thicker edging. This was because the big production machines can't do a radius. It worked well for that.

I don't think it's really in the range of "thousands of feet" either. Conturo works great, but it is only part of the process. You still have to trim it off after. This is way too much handling for a large job with thousands of feet of edging.

Same 1mm is my min thickness the .5 stuff sucks.  Turning the temp down a bit and moving quickly is the best option.  You could try to put the banding in the fridge for a few hours but never tried that.  Best option is to go get some 1mm banding. 

 

[peter halle]

Offering this idea with no disrespect meant to those who have and will continue to offer thoughts here - thanks for doing that.

If I were in your shoes I would also be contacting Festool directly and asking for guidance in addition to the answers you get here.  You have a bunch of dollars on the table here.

Just my 2 cents.

Peter

 

[Laminator]

Late to the thread but for what its worth I've run a couple of thousand feet of .5mm with the Conturo on the low temp and it worked well with no problems melting or with adhesion.  When it was new I tried it on high temp and it made a melted mess pronto lol. I also never use the low speed...

 

[tiralie]

Late to the thread but for what its worth I've run a couple of thousand feet of .5mm with the Conturo on the low temp and it worked well with no problems melting or with adhesion.  When it was new I tried it on high temp and it made a melted mess pronto lol. I also never use the low speed...

Agreed, lower the temperature until it doesn't melt the PVC but the glue is still applied evenly. It will soften the PVC but it but it should not curl on the edges. When it comes off the end of the Conturo the PVC will sag and curl so wait till it cools to cut it.  If it does it's still too hot. Try to do all edging in succession rather than stopping and starting.
Tim