Iron on Edgebanding on MDO

[Jay Jolliffe]

I have to make some large drawer fronts & was wondering if anyone has used iron on edge banding on MDO....The drawer fronts will be painted

[John Lifer]

Used some cheap Blue box brand on some particle board recently. Was white melamine (all they had) and it worked ok. Nothing great, if your painting, I think I'd just fill and paint it all.

[johnny means]

I used to use maple edge banding on MDF all the time. It gave me a more durable corner and made painting easier. No reason why it wouldn't work on MDO.

[Jim Becker]

MDO is just plywood with a resin-impregnated paper face. Edge banding will work just fine on this material.

[Brian Tymchak]

I used birch edge banding on birch ply workshop drawer fronts with mixed results. There are a few places the edge bands have let go. So, my advice would be that if the drawers are going to see light use, it's probably going to be ok.

[Rick Christopherson]

The important thing to keep in mind with iron-on edge banding is to keep the edge as smooth as possible. A fresh-cut particle board edge is usually OK, but if your blade was dull or you have tearing of the particles instead of slicing, then a light sand will help. The same is true for plywood core (such as MDO). This can actually be the most problematic of all the sheet good types due to the crossgrain cutting of the laminates. As much as MDF is disliked for other reasons, it is the best for edge banding adhesion.

I use a clothes iron for application because it permits both heat and pressure at the same time. I apply good downward pressure until I see some oozing of the adhesive at the edge, and follow that up with a couple quick passes off-angle against the edges. Ideally, I follow this up with a wooden block to further apply pressure but without the heat, as the material cools.

There is a narrow window between too little heat and too much heat. A common failure that may be difficult to detect without experience is applying too much heat (moving too slow).

In many cases, you don't need to cut the tape at each corner. Simply roll the hot iron around the corner and the heat will bend the banding. The only joint is at the beginning/end.