End trimming thick edge band

[Brett Nelson]

Building frameless cabinets but tired of using 2mm edgebanding. I'm going to use 3/4" thick edge banding instead. Trimming the edges flush with the side panels is no prob.

Just wondering if anyone has any great ideas for end trimming the thicker banding. I'm not willing to cut them with a hand saw. Also, applying the banding first, then cutting the panels to size isn't possible as they are getting cut via CNC with blind dados.

I've thought about cutting them on the table saw if I have to, but it isn't preferred.

Thanks guys.

[Jamie Buxton]

With banding that thick, I take the trouble to miter them all together. Without mitering, you're looking at endgrain on the edge of the door. I don't object to endgrain, but it looks odd in that spot.

Mitering takes a long time. so I generally stick to 2 mm banding. If you just kinda round over the corner, the end grain isn't very obvious.

[Erik Christensen]

i just finished a set of cabinet cases with 1" hard maple edge banding. I cut the bands to the length of the finished cabinet pieces using my RAS and sneaking up on each cut. I thought I had things perfect until I assembled the cases last weekend. There we visible gaps in a few of my joints - ~ 1/64 which sounds good but still is visible - lots of navy words when I saw the finished result.

Next time I am going to cut panels oversize, edge band, then cut to final dimension. I think it is a challenge to get it perfect after the fact - when I glued the edge band I got both ends perfect by eye & feel (I thought) and did not know otherwise until I put the case together.

[Brett Nelson]

i just finished a set of cabinet cases with 1" hard maple edge banding. I cut the bands to the length of the finished cabinet pieces using my RAS and sneaking up on each cut. I thought I had things perfect until I assembled the cases last weekend. There we visible gaps in a few of my joints - ~ 1/64 which sounds good but still is visible - lots of navy words when I saw the finished result.

Next time I am going to cut panels oversize, edge band, then cut to final dimension. I think it is a challenge to get it perfect after the fact - when I glued the edge band I got both ends perfect by eye & feel (I thought) and did not know otherwise until I put the case together.

That is exactly the concern. However, I thought about it overnight and realized that there is a simple router jig that I can make that will allow me to trim exactly flush using a guided bit. This way I can finish the banding before applying it to the panels and then cut it long and apply it. Afterward I can trim them off flush with the router. The only issue then is not getting a perfect fit on the dados that would result in a gap between the banding, but also along the inside of the cabinet.