Sanding edges

[oradba69]

Hi All, this might be me first post. (Have been here for quite a while as a guest).
Ok here is my dilemma. I have a factory supplying me with mdf that is edged with solid wood (14mm) and the corners are mitred. They then veneer both sides for me. All this is done to the dimensions I give.
With the veneering process quite a bit of hard glue gets stuck on the solids and to tell the truth even the solids may have burn/saw marks.
What festool (or another if there is nothing else) can be used and what process to clean up these edges. These boards are mostly 32mm but I also use 16 and 18mm quite often.
At this stage we are doing them by hand with a sanding block.

 

[Alan m]

i presume you want to remove the glue and no material.

you could use a belt sander mounted at 90 degrees to a table and sand it off.

you could use a router with a pattern bit to cut it off. i have seen ones that were a sheer action and had a piece on the top and bottom of the bearing so that it trims veneer flush on both sides.

 

[AlexThePalex]

DTS 400

 

[Neill]

I have the LS 130 that seems to work well for sanding edges with the standard flat pad.  It is firm enough not to form around the edge and round it off.  Of course, if you want to round the edges you can just use one of the other pads.

Neill

 

[tiralie]

I would think a MFK 700 with a 0 degree base and an edge guide with a 1/4" or 8mm bit would work quickly to take the glue and burn marks off and leave a smooth finish.
Alternatively you could use the 1010 with a flush trim bit or pattern bit. If that didn't clean up enough in one pass you could use an edge guide and an opposite shear staggered shear tooth plunge bit to take a little more edge off.
Tim

 

[Jesse Cloud]

If you have large amounts of glue or big bubbles, first use a card scraper to pop most of it off .Lee Valley Scraper.  Works fast, no damage, very cheap, lasts forever...

If you must sand, the LS130 is a good suggestion.  Its linear instead of orbital, so there is less likelihood of rounding over an edge.

The router with a pattern bit is a good method, too - but the hard glue will wear that router bit out in a hurry.

 

[oradba69]

Thanks for all the answers, much appreciated. Have been contemplating the LS but will try some of the other suggestions in the meantime.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

Can you post some pictures of the boards/ pieces? I can tell by what I am picturing in my mind and the variety of answers that we are not all on the same page.

Seth

 

[oradba69]

Hi,

Can you post some pictures of the boards/ pieces? I can tell by what I am picturing in my mind and the variety of answers that we are not all on the same page.

Seth

Will only be able to upload tonight (now 7 am in SA) but if I may and try to explain more.
1 start with piece of mdf lets say 32mm
2. Edge it right round with solid wood(14mm thick slightly higher than 32mm) with the corners mitred.
3. Sand it flat through drum sander (32mm or slightly under).
4. gets veneered both sides with slightly oversized pieces of veneer and go into the press.
5. while in the press there are some glue squeeze out running down the solid edges(which might have saw/burn marks).
6. this glue runs are the little buggers I am talking about(and it is quite hard not like pva glue)

Hope this helps.

 

[tiralie]

The router with a pattern bit is a good method, too - but the hard glue will wear that router bit out in a hurry.

Really, that's gotta be some ornery glue!
I would think that the crap that is in cheaper particle board wears them out quicker.
Correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that a good quality (carbide) router bit may get gummed up from the heat generated during cutting and that will decrease it's cutting efficiency but it won't wear it out. A good quality blade cleaner (Boeshield or Lee Valley) cleaner should be able to remove the caked on glue and restore a heavily used bit to at least giving you a good cut.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

Can you post some pictures of the boards/ pieces? I can tell by what I am picturing in my mind and the variety of answers that we are not all on the same page.

Seth

Will only be able to upload tonight (now 7 am in SA) but if I may and try to explain more.
1 start with piece of mdf lets say 32mm
2. Edge it right round with solid wood(14mm thick slightly higher than 32mm) with the corners mitred.
3. Sand it flat through drum sander (32mm or slightly under).
4. gets veneered both sides with slightly oversized pieces of veneer and go into the press.
5. while in the press there are some glue squeeze out running down the solid edges(which might have saw/burn marks).
6. this glue runs are the little buggers I am talking about(and it is quite hard not like pva glue)

Hope this helps.

Yes, I think that helps.

One more question.

So when the panels get veneered , the veneer completely covers the solid wood on the veneered faces, and the solid wood is only exposed on the edges?

Seth

 

[Jesse Cloud]

The router with a pattern bit is a good method, too - but the hard glue will wear that router bit out in a hurry.

Really, that's gotta be some ornery glue!
I would think that the crap that is in cheaper particle board wears them out quicker.
Correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that a good quality (carbide) router bit may get gummed up from the heat generated during cutting and that will decrease it's cutting efficiency but it won't wear it out. A good quality blade cleaner (Boeshield or Lee Valley) cleaner should be able to remove the caked on glue and restore a heavily used bit to at least giving you a good cut.

Hey Tim,
You may be right, especially about the crap in particle board. [big grin]
My personal experience has been that the gummy stuff that sticks to the bit has not fully cured and will come off with a little work.  However, many modern glues cure very hard, much harder than wood.  I have gotten nicks in my bits from trimming with a pattern bit, especially with the resin glues that I use for laminations.  What makes it worse is that you can't really sharpen a pattern bit because then it will not be flush with the bearing.
My suggestion was simply to use a scraper to pop off any big chunks of cured glue before routing.

 

[tiralie]

My suggestion was simply to use a scraper to pop off any big chunks of cured glue before routing.

Ya generally that works, but man it can be hard work. Some of those big chucks are hard to get off.
I have used a paint scraper and the Bench Crafted scraper is excellent for smaller areas. Sometimes wood will adhere to the cured glue and splinter off creating a small crater making more of a mess.
The veneer glue is probably not water soluble so you can't wet it and then wash it off like you can with regular (yellow) carpenters glue.

I think in this case the OP should go back to his supplier and ask them to clean the edges before it dries but that may not be possible because the veneer glue may be cured in line with UV or RF before it gets to the handler.
Tim

 

[oradba69]

Hi,

Can you post some pictures of the boards/ pieces? I can tell by what I am picturing in my mind and the variety of answers that we are not all on the same page.

Seth

Will only be able to upload tonight (now 7 am in SA) but if I may and try to explain more.
1 start with piece of mdf lets say 32mm
2. Edge it right round with solid wood(14mm thick slightly higher than 32mm) with the corners mitred.
3. Sand it flat through drum sander (32mm or slightly under).
4. gets veneered both sides with slightly oversized pieces of veneer and go into the press.
5. while in the press there are some glue squeeze out running down the solid edges(which might have saw/burn marks).
6. this glue runs are the little buggers I am talking about(and it is quite hard not like pva glue)

Hope this helps.

Yes, I think that helps.

One more question.

So when the panels get veneered , the veneer completely covers the solid wood on the veneered faces, and the solid wood is only exposed on the edges?

Seth

Correct, actually works stunning when routing the edges.