Router options for edge banding

[John T.]

I started a project with white oak plywood and edge banding, and so far the edge banding trimming tool has been a pain. No matter how careful I am I get tear out or the trimmer digs into the face. I do have a few future projects planned that would use solid wood edge banding as well where I will need to trim with a router.

1) I have a Dewalt cordless trim router that I mounted in a little portable router top that I clamp to my MFT/3, but unless I build a large fence, I don't think it'll be good for trimming edge banding on large panels.

2) I planned to get an OF 1010 eventually, but although I don't use a router a lot beyond small chamfers, with the attachments it seems to do a clean job of trimming edge banding.

3) Cheaper/DIY option for the Dewalt, but I don't know how well it will do with thin self adhesive banding, as opposed to thick solid wood banding. The cutting motion would be pulling the banding normal to the glue joint, as opposed to the OF 1010 that is cutting in shear to the glue joint. I don't know of any way to make micro adjustments to the Dewalt to really dial in the height either.



Maybe I just need some opinions on how much better the OF 1010 will be for this use. Am I overlooking a good option with the Dewalt?

 

[afish]

 

[John T.]

That looks like a great option. I saw in some other threads mention of the “Fastcap trimmer” but thought they were talking about these cheap plastic razor blade trimmers.

 

[afish]

Those razor trimmers are best for pvc banding up to 1.5mm that's my preferred method.  But for wood you you need some type of power trimmer with a little lipper or a MFK there are other options but those are probably the 2 best the little lipper is going to fit any budget but lack the dust collection of the MFK The MFK.  I also seen a 3d print for a makita trimmer to make it work like a MFK as well but the lack of a dust port seems like a missed opportunity to me.  If your 3d printer handy It would probably be pretty simple to design one for the dewalt trimmer too.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The MFK700 is the ideal tool for this, that is literally it intended use. However, it requires the highest initial investment. It is really all about how often you need such a thing and how valuable your time is to you. If you do this for a living, it's a no-brainer. If you do it a lot, even as a non-pro, it may still be the best, as it is the easiest/least frustrating. For a guy building his own furniture/cabinets at home? maybe-maybe not, there are less expensive alternatives.
The other option would be if you needed it for a fairly big job, like your own kitchen, but only once? I think I would still buy a MFK700 and then sell if after the job was done. It will hold enough value to get most of your money back, something that the home improvement store brands can't do.

 

[John T.]

Agreed but I’m just a hobbyist and if I were buying a new router it’d be the OF 1010 which will have a lot more uses for me.

 

[Birdhunter]

I’ve got all the Festool routers but always pull out a LN block plane to trim edge pieces. There is no set up and I have total control.

 

[4nthony]

...if I were buying a new router it’d be the OF 1010 which will have a lot more uses for me.

Maybe the Edging Plate for the OF 1010 would work out for you if you're planning to get the OF 1010.

 

[Bob D.]

This looks interesting. I have no idea if it works, I found it doing a search just a moment ago.
Looks like it could be tricky to get dialed in, but you shouldn't need to do much adjusting once it's right.

But the price is lower. Remember you get what you pay for.  [unsure]
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5136629

 

[jasen]

Another option.
=PLp1aX9ap_0OdvVa4-ZnYCoMcSJq4nPeP9&index=5

 

[Axis39]

Prior to ever even having heard of the MFK 700 (which I love), I built a base for one of my older routers.  It was basically a two level base out of clear plexiglass.

I added a couple of dowels to use as handles,a nd just lowered the bit until it was a couple of thousandths high and then sanded it down flush by hand.

When I stumbled across the MFK 700 my life was kinda changed.  The horizontal base is so easy and quick!  I can set the MFK so that I literally just wipe down the very corner with a small piece of 400 to make sure there aren't any little hairy splinters hanging about.

BUT, I also use my MFK 700 for rounders, edge treatments, anything I used ot use my little Ridgid battery operated trim router for....  So, it's not just a one trick pony.  I do believe it may be the very best at that one trick....  But,. it's not all you can do with it.

My only complaint about the MFK is the range of height adjustment in the bases.  It's certainly enough for any edge banding job....  But, sometimes standard bits can be a little long for practical use.

 

[John T.]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to make a decision soon between the Little Lipper and getting the OF 1010 R. The Little Lipper seems like a really nice solution that is probably more than accurate enough for my hobbyist use.

At the same time, I wanted to eventually get the OF 1010 R anyway, so I'm leaning towards that option, but need to consider whether it's worth the (small) cost of the Little Lipper to postpone that purchase longer.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The OF1010 with the angle arm, etc  is a far cleaner way to do it. That Little Lipper add-on makes quite a mess. Of course, this is all relative, if you don't do it often enough, it may not matter as much.

[member=77700]Axis39[/member] is correct, the MFK700 is far from a "one trick pony", but it's damn good at that one trick. I have one, with the modified base, that I keep set up exclusively for that, and a second one for all of the other uses. This way I never have to deal with set up, just open the Systainer and go.
It seemed a shame to have it "tied up" all the time though. When I came across a deal on a used (but not used) one, I couldn't pass on it.

That is the one problem with tools that can do many things, they can't do them all "at once". There is a set-up time factor involved. Ask anyone who has ever used a ShopSmith. They can "sort of" do anything, tablesaw, bandsaw, jointer, drill press, horizontal boring, lathe, but don't get your order of operations off, or need to go back and cut a replacement part.

 

[John T.]

The OF1010 with the angle arm, etc  is a far cleaner way to do it. That Little Lipper add-on makes quite a mess. Of course, this is all relative, if you don't do it often enough, it may not matter as much.

[member=77700]Axis39[/member] is correct, the MFK700 is far from a "one trick pony", but it's darn good at that one trick. I have one, with the modified base, that I keep set up exclusively for that, and a second one for all of the other uses. This way I never have to deal with set up, just open the Systainer and go.

That's a good point about the dust collection. It's not a deal breaker for me since I work in a carport and wear a respirator, although it's still nice to have the dust collection so I don't have to vacuum up as much afterwards.

 

[Packard]

I started a project with white oak plywood and edge banding, and so far the edge banding trimming tool has been a pain. No matter how careful I am I get tear out or the trimmer digs into the face.[…]

I had the same issue with the edge trimmers I have tried.  They work fine with the resin edge bands, but not so well with wood trim, especially wood with a strong grain like oak. 

I settled on using a 2” wide conventional wood chisel.  It allows you a degree of control that the standard trimmers do not.  You do want to take notice of the grain and if is shows a bias, you want to choose a direction that does not direct the blade into the trim.

It takes a bit of practice, but watching what is happening in real time allowed me to get good results right from the beginning.  Practice allowed me to work faster.  It also allows me to use the chisel to trim the end of the band (a mallet strike makes exceptionally clean cuts). 

And it fits in my apron, which none of my routers will.

A 2” wide chisel will prove handy and I would suggest you try this before buying a router.

I have an older Stanley (UK) version.  I see that Home Depot is selling Stanley chisels for under $20.00.  I don’t know if it is a UK version and I don’t know if it matters.  The chisel stays sharp for a long time in these light duty applications.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

It takes some set-up to get it right. It is very easy because of the 1/10mm height adjustment screw.  Once you are there, with a larger diameter cutter, I get perfect results. You can dial the follower wheel to hit right at the seam line and never dig into the ply veneer.
Though I don't really recommend it, you can also climb cut with it too. This will stop any kind of tear-out, but you have to be aware of how much you are removing and it has to be very little.

 

[Lincoln]

For any type of wood edge banding, you can't beat a dedicated lipping planer. I have the Virutex and highly recommend it. I've always found routing in to be awkward, much easier to have the whole tool sit on the face of your board.

 

[Packard]

I just watched th Virutex video. For trimming th 3/4” thick edging, it certainly does a good job and is reasonably fast.

But for trimming iron on edge banding it does not appear to be faster than the chisel.

But perhaps the learning curve is shorter, though I don’t recall it being that difficult to learn. It was just a matter of holding the chisel at the correct angle.

 

[Lincoln]

No, not for iron on.

 

[Packard]

Before I settled on using a chisel, I trimmed using a random orbital sander held at about a 20 degree angle.  It made fairly quick work of it, but later the veneers on plywood was thinner and the risk of sanding through the veneer had me abandon that method. It was convenient because I had to sand the pieces anyway….