Best method for trimming solid edge banding.

I am in the middle of a fairly extensive project and i have been sick for a couple of days but decided to work all day yesterday when i probably should have been sleeping. I milled about 100' of birch strips approx 3/4" x .62 " to use as edge banding for undersize plywood. So far so good, until i totally spaced out and ran the strips through the router table oriented incorrectly so that the edge banding is now thicker than the shelves. I really dont want to waste all of it and the time spent milling and i am trying to decide on the most efficient way to trim it flush with the ply. I basically have around 1/16 on each side of the shelf.

I was thinking probably running it through the router table with the offset and faether boards and then maybe use a hand plane to get the last of it. Any other thoughts?

I'd do the RT for sure. Using a tall fence, cut a 1" or so rabbet at the bottom of the fence for the 1/16 overhang to ride in and use a flush trim bit. That should do it, but watch the grain direction so you minimize tear out.

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Originally Posted by Matt Day

I'd do the RT for sure. Using a tall fence, cut a 1" or so rabbet at the bottom of the fence for the 1/16 overhang to ride in and use a flush trim bit. That should do it, but watch the grain direction so you minimize tear out.

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This^^^^^^^^

well, since you asked the best method to trim solid wood edge banding, it is to use an edge lipping planer.

The best is Lamello Cantex, pricey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7yjmLuXwnk
The second best is Virutex lipping planer, http://virutex.com/edgelippingplanermodelap98-1.aspx

If you regularly do solid wood edge banding, a lipping planer is a good investment, perfect result, no tear out.

James

If you don't want or can't use the RT, you can stand the shelves up on edge (hardwood trim edge side up) with some scrap (like a piece of 2x4) clamped between the shelves so that you can use a flush trim bit in a (small if available) router that rides on two shelves while cutting on one of them. The whole clamped together shebang will stand up very solidly and the router will not want to dip or lean as you run it around all edges.

Thanks, all great suggestions. Matt, this is a excellent idea, i did run one through with a tall sacrificial fence attached and it worked ok, but as can be expected there was still a little too much of a gap for me to really want to do 30 shelves this way. It definitely didn't occur to me to cut the rabbet, i was too hung up on making the offset exact and the feather boards set accordingly. It will certainly be worth the time to set this up.

David, this was actually my first inclination. If i hadnt been sick and already feeling a bit frustrated i would have set this up. This afternoon the thought of building a temporary setup that would minimize tear out at the end and the "snipe" effect at the beginning of the run seemed a bit overwhelming when i took into account that the whole setup would need to be adjusted for 6 different dimensions.

James, as i was considering briefly using a hand plane i was wondering if there was an appropriate tool for this. Amazing, the price tag is a bit prohibitive for me at this point.

I have been using veneer banding for years without a banding machine and i just couldn't do it anymore. Usually i can mill the solid banding close enough that i am able to take care of the overhang easily during sanding. That is when i remember to run it through the notching bit oriented correctly :)

Yep, tall fence on your RT with a flush cut bit.

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Originally Posted by Ole Anderson

Yep, tall fence on your RT with a flush cut bit.

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That works well. Even better on a horizontal router where gravity can help.

I use this setup for moderate quantities of 1/4" banding.Attachment 362639Attachment 362640

For thicker material or larger quantities I set up the shaper with a wing cutter set flush with an auxiliary table and use the power feeder to climb cut. Attachment 362642Attachment 362643

I tried several methods including a tall fence on my (admittedly crummy) router table and found the method in the link below offered me the greatest control and stability.

https://youtu.be/xVWKU_rhd_k

It's also nice that you can "sneak up" on the cut to make sure it's exactly flush.

FF--after getting the edge banding close to the veneer height, a cabinet scraper or scraper plane works well to complete the flush trimming.

Kevin, that is a nice setup. When i was thinking about using the palm router i was thinking about taking the opposite route and building the stabilization around the shelves instead of the router.
Fred, this setup looks like a similar idea but more geared toward my needs as my banding is almost 3/4" width. I guess my only concern is tearout with the bit oriented that way and the edge banding being thin at the edges on account of the groove cut into it. I do like the fact that it is using the shelf as the register surface instead of the edge.

I think im going to make one of these and do the rabbet in the tall fence and see which one works out better. I do have a good router fence and im hoping to do it that way mostly for efficiency and speed.

Evan,

When I used the method I linked above, my banding was around a quarter inch and as long as I took it slow, there was zero tear out. I could see this as an issue if you're using a thicker banding like three quarters. You may need a larger diameter bit to keep the cut going in the same direction.

Another thing I noticed that wasn't in the video that I just remembered is this: if you don't have the bit 100% flush with the base, obviously err on the "bit too high" side. What will happen, since the base is registering against what you have just cut, is a slow ramping up of the banding (a continual increase in how proud the banding is off the veneer). This isn't a bad thing, but you'll have to go back to where you started on that edge after making a small adjustment to the bit height.

In retrospect, making this small error and then correcting it and making the banding absolutely flush was kind of rewarding and showed how well this technique can work.

Good luck!

Since I was running a little behind schedule I decided to go with the router table. It only took me about 10 mins to make the fence and I figured it would be faster to run each side of the 30+ shelves through the router table. Attachment 362726

I am going to make the attachment for the palm router and try that method out too. Thanks everyone for the input

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z88bctiSUq0

This is a nice setup, using dish carving bit will produce nice result.

https://www.amazon.com/Freud-99-026-...ing+router+bit

James