Setup for hardwood edge banding with trim router?

[gearhound]

Hey guys/gals, I just picked up my 1st trim router and a flush trim bit. I ripped some thin strips of maple that I glued on to some 3/4" baltic birch and have been having difficulty balancing the router on top of the 3/4" ply. It's really easy to kind of angle the bit and dig into the edge banding a tad because the router doesn't have much surface area to balance on.

I came up with the idea of clamping the piece flush with the MFT top so I can use the table for support of the router base. This seems like a decent solution, but am just curious if anyone has a better idea for how to quickly edge band without a router table?

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Thanks

 

[bionicus]

Make a flush-trim base for your Colt.

Like this guy:

There's no dialogue in the video so just press mute unless you enjoy the sound of an old woodworker breathing through his nose. (You don't, no one does.)

 

[RDMuller]

I have had lots of experiences here with lots of pluses and minuses
1.  The very best solution for "bringing a router to the work" is the Festool MFK700 in horizontal mode.  For nearly 10 years, this has been my favorite Festool tool -- even more so then saws and sanders.  This does cost some money.
2.  Routers in tables -- you say you do not want to be in a router table.  The big disadvantage  of tables is you bring the work to the tool and that is horrible if it is a big workpiece.
3.  Free handing like you are doing in the picture -- next to impossible to get quality work repeatedly -- you plain simply don't have the control you need. 
4.  Rigging up some sort of flat base for the router and putting "double fences" on each side underneath -- I have not done this but have seen some photos.  Basically you have a "throat" to pass the router over the clamped down work.

ABOVE ALL ELSE -- Bits with end bearings are your friend!

 

[Bob D.]

What if you took your idea and turned it around. Instead of clamping the workpiece on the side of the MFT lay it flat on the MFT. To support the router clamp a piece of ply where you have your workpiece now and let the router ride on that edge and on your workpiece. Then you don't have to go through the process of aligning your workpiece flush with the table top each time, you can just clamp it down close enough that the router can ride on both the work and the support clamped to the side of the MFT.

 

[Locke3405]

Bosch colt routers have an guide that comes with the router or you can purchase it for less than $15.  It has a couple of holes drilled that will accept an auxiliary wood fence that will allow you to turn the router horizontal.  Add a flush trim bit and it is very stable and fast for edge-banding.  It took me about 10 minutes to make and I can edge band a panel in under 30 seconds.

 

[Big Taco]

Fastcap Little Lipper would be an option to look at:https://www.fastcap.com/product/little-lipper#!prettyPhoto

 

[mschmidt10k]

I use the Festool MFK700 in horizontal mode too - have it set up permanently with the Festool 491666 Cutter Edge Trimming bit and use it exclusively for trimming both thin & thick edge banding.

The workpiece is laid flat (usually held in place by my Festool Vac Sys) which makes this a very easy & safe operation.