Cherry veneer panel and edge banding

[Jay Knobbe]

I had 3 large cherry veneer panels made for a built-in cabinet tops. The panels are 1.5" thick made from some type of MDF. I am edge banding them with cherry veneer I had cut. Both the veneered panels and edge banding were made by a local hardwood store in the Chicagoland area. I am concerned about the HeatLock adhesive for the edge banding getting on the veneer. I am considering staining (oil based) the cherry before applying the adhesive for edge banding. I would tape off the edges that would get adhesive applied so the stain would not bleed over the sides.
Thoughts?

[Jamie Buxton]

I don't use veneer for edgebanding. The corner between the edge and the face is very fragile. If it gets dinged, you see the substrate. Also, you cannot ease the corner, again for fear of exposing the substrate. Instead, I use solid lumber. I generally use anything thicker than 3/16" thick. Anything thicker is just a visual design choice. I glue the banding on with conventional wood glue. I make the banding wider than the panel thickness, and trim it flush with a router. This is all stronger than what you're doing, and really just as easy.

[roger wiegand]

Taping the top is probably a good precaution to avoid contamination, but I'd do it on the top to avoid the glue getting where you don't want it and then allowing any coloring or finishing to be done all at once on the entire top.

+1 on the suggestion to use solid wood. Edgebanding is a very, very frequent point of failure. Solid wood withstands the possible abuse and abrasion that corners are inevitably subjected to and, at least as applied by hand in a non-factory setting, is easier to get right in the first place and pretty much just as fast to apply.

[Kevin Jenness]

I too like to use solid banding as a rule, but if your cabinet tops are up high veneer will be fine as it won't be exposed to wear. I don't see any advantage to using Heatlock unless you can't clamp the banding. You can mask the field, but I would just glue on the banding, flush and sand the joint to clean off the glue, then stain the piece. You can check for glue traces by wiping on some mineral spirits or alcohol.

I usually band my veneered panels with 1/4" or thinner lumber banding before veneering unless the exposed band is a design feature.

[John Kananis]

Great advice up top. Aside from using solid banding, band first and veneer the top afterwards.

[John TenEyck]

I've used a lot of edge banding and have never had a problem with the hot melt adhesive contaminating the face veneer. I use an old iron to apply it and an edge banding trimmer to cut it flush with the panel. You can ease the edges afterwards, including the corners. 320 grit with a little care.

No question solid wood edging is more durable, but that really needs to be done before veneering the panel for the best look. If you decide to use solid wood now, I'd make it no more than 1/8" thick, 1/16" would look even less obvious.

John

[Frank Pratt]

i like solid wood edging. Here's a sample of my corner construction that blends well and leaves a decent amount of solid wood at the corner.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, that's "brilliant"...and with careful selection of stock for the corners, it "disappears", too.