Router or Hand Plane for Trimming 3/4” Edge Band?

[Bugsysiegals]

I’m gluing 3/4” X 3/4” Walnut to 3/4” Maple plywood shelves and am wondering the best way to make the Walnut flush to the plywood. It’s proud of the plywood by no more than 1mm and in some spots closer to flush already.

I have the Bench Dog router table extension on my table saw with Incra fence system. I considered mounting some MDF to it in order to create a higher fence to run the shelf against with a gap on the bottom. The shelves are 28” deep so I wasn’t sure how well this would work while standing up.

I have the OF1400 router which wasn’t recommended with the adapter to go on its side; however, I’ve seen some jigs people mount to the bottom which allows the bit to go over the edge banding while the jig still sits on the plywood to flush cut. I’m not certain how well this works and if cutting perpendicular is a decent cut or not.

Or, I could buy my first hand plane and see how difficult it would be to make a nice finish.  If this is best, I’d buy a Lie Nielsen but need to know which model would work best or provide best versatility overall and work well for this since I probably won’t buy another for another until Christmas.

 

[kevin clifford]

Use your router and build your own base for it.  Use a nice wide straight cutting bit, about an inch wide. I will add a photo of my router jig tomorrow. Plenty wide and stable, but gets the corners as well. Costs nothing if you have scrap wood.
Another option if you do a whole lot of hardwood edges on sheetgoods like plywood or mdf is a lipping planer. They are pretty pricey, but absolutely worth the investment.

 

[lwoirhaye]

I don't recommend doing it with a hand plane because tearout may occur and you won't have many options if it does. 

It can be done with a flush trim bit and a steady hand, or using various shop-made or purchased router attachments.

Fastcap sells a thing called a Little Lipper that looks useful.  I've never tried it because I have some other equipment for doing the job.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Using thick edge banding is making things difficult.

First, when gluing it on you'll need to straighten the plywood with cauls so the edge band doesn't lock in the slight bend that plywood usually has.

Second, when trimming it flush the more there is the more difficult it is to make flush.

For both reasons I keep the the edge banding to 1/8" or less.
At 1/8" you can still get a clearly visible chamfer (my favorite).
At 1/8" you can trim with a hand plane holding it at a big skew and a slight bevel so you are less likely to remove the ply veneer.
At 1/8" it can be easily routed away hinge routing bit (they're designed to bat smooth bottom cuts but they're usually only 1/2" in diameter).

I put a trim router on a strong sub-base so that the router is more than 50% cantilevered and then set the hinge routing bit to be flush (or slightly higher) with the ply surface. With the router up and over compared to the base you can on the surface of the ply and cut the edge band down to safe sanding range.

Or, you can buy Festool's edge router.

 

[waho6o9]

Whiteside's up down spiral router bits would be perfect for this application.

View attachment 1

 

[Bugsysiegals]

I see they have refurbished MFK700 available.  Does refurbished come with all the original equipment?  Is there a warranty?  Would it go deep enough to trim 3/4” material when used perpendicular (I thought it had a small depth to it)?  Does it require a special attachment for trimming edge banding on its side?

 

[Bugsysiegals]

Forget about the refurbished 700, it doesn’t come with the 1/4 collet, dust hood, cord, vertical and horizontal base, or feeler bearing set.

I’m trying to understand whether a jig underneath my OF1400 with the right bit, not sure what’s best, would be every bit as good as the MFK700 with the spiral bit??  Perhaps I buy a smoothing hand planer or something instead and give it a light shave if the bit doesn’t finish as well.  Or is a new 700 worth it?

 

[Aclaw]

The Little Lipper from fastcap on my 1400 has done me pretty well.

 

[android]

This is the best way that I have seen to do this...

Flush cutting edge banding is about 7 minutes in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AddH8IgL7wY

I built a fence with a rabbet like this and tried it and it works pretty well. I probably need to build a more precise fence to get perfect trims, mine was bit off.

 

[lwoirhaye]

The MFK700 is cool because you can leave it set up.  It's not very useful as a general purpose router however. I had one and sold it after I acquired a Holz-Her UF362, a heavy machine.  I bought the gadgets for the Festool OF1010 as a back up. 

The MFK is basically idiot-proof when set up though, a great production tool for a busy shop with employees who aren't meticulous.  I can't say that's true of using a trim router with a flush cut bit. 

 

[Bugsysiegals]

What would provide a better finish, MFK700 with spiral bit run horizontally or Lie Nielsen #4 Smoothing Plane?

 

[Corwin]

What would provide a better finish, MFK700 with spiral bit run horizontally or Lie Nielsen #4 Smoothing Plane?

No contest. A machined surface is no match for one that is hand planed.

 

[Mario Turcot]

This is the best way that I have seen to do this...

Flush cutting edge banding is about 7 minutes in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AddH8IgL7wY

I built a fence with a rabbet like this and tried it and it works pretty well. I probably need to build a more precise fence to get perfect trims, mine was bit off.

[member=66756]android[/member]

That fence jig is on my todo list. What did you used as finish, wax?

 

[lwoirhaye]

You're going to get tearout sooner or later if you insist on hand planes for this job.  If the work is paint grade, no big deal - just use putty.  It can be done, yes, but it's slower and riskier than machining the edge flush.  The risk can be mitigated somewhat by using a high angle bevel on the iron to bring the working angle to 50 degrees or more.  This results in more of a scraping cut.

 

[Bugsysiegals]

My plan is to use the OF1400 to bring it as close as possible to being flush and then use the plane to carefully shave just a bit closer. In the future I may leave 1-2mm gap between the plywood and edge banding as a decorative look, still using a triangular edge joint, and so it’s easier to avoid tear out when trimming.

Are you thinking I shouldn’t use the hand plane at all and just get as close as possible with OF1400 or get an MFK700 and forget the plane?

 

[Bugsysiegals]

FYI - I was thinking to plane it on a skew and carefully watch the blade and keep it as close as possible to the edge banding so it would barely be above the plywood.

 

[Svar]

This is the best way that I have seen to do this...
Flush cutting edge banding is about 7 minutes in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AddH8IgL7wY
I built a fence with a rabbet like this and tried it and it works pretty well. I probably need to build a more precise fence to get perfect trims, mine was bit off.

It only works if you have banding along one edge. Two adjacent edges and you piece cannot be placed flush to the fence.

 

[Corwin]

I think the most forgiving approach to this is as Michael suggests:

...
I put a trim router on a strong sub-base so that the router is more than 50% cantilevered and then set the hinge routing bit to be flush (or slightly higher) with the ply surface. With the router up and over compared to the base you can on the surface of the ply and cut the edge band down to safe sanding range.
...

You can place a piece of paper between the router bit and the surface of your plywood to set the router's depth of cut. 

 

[Corwin]

This is the best way that I have seen to do this...
Flush cutting edge banding is about 7 minutes in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AddH8IgL7wY
I built a fence with a rabbet like this and tried it and it works pretty well. I probably need to build a more precise fence to get perfect trims, mine was bit off.

It only works if you have banding along one edge. Two adjacent edges and you piece cannot be placed flush to the fence.

Uhm, one [adjacent] edge at a time.

Do both ends first. Then, do the front and rear  edges.

 

[lwoirhaye]

I just did some today.  My trimmer isn't set up perfect so it's leaving it a little proud.  Theres a bevel on the end of the cutters that I think can trim off the glue on the surface of the veneer and barely cut the veneer if it's set up right.  You're probably going to have to sand or scrape a little glue off to get a surface that will take a stain.  I seem to recall the MFK has a slight angle on the horizontal base that allows for cutting off the glue squeeze out on the veneer side of the joint.

You can get all obsessed with it or just route it to within .25mm or whatever and go after the rest with a cabinet scraper, razor blades, and/or an electric sander.  It doesn't take long.