Edge Bander demo and using tips

Working with sheet goods such as plywood and particle board require and edge band to cover the raw edges. There are methods ranging from using a household iron to commercial machines costing over a hundred thousand dollars. In this video we will take a look at a simple benchtop machine costing around $370 - $470. While this machine can be a little finicky out of the box, I will show you how to set it up as well as some simple upgrades that will help give you the best possible results. This machine requires pre-glued edge banding. It does not have a glue pot. While one may think this machine does not offer much advantage over using an iron, the opposite is true. When using an iron the heat it transferred from the top side through to the bottom where the glues is. This works fine for wood bandings but cannot be used with PVC banding. PVC banding will melt with an iron. The machine on the other hand applies heat directly to the bottom side where the glue is allowing the use of all kinds of pre-glued edge banding. There are literally hundreds of PVC banding colors and patterns available to match most laminates out there. Thus the machine opens up the possibility of building with all kinds of materials and using a matching banding for it. While a commercial shop would not be using this machine it is ideal for the person or shop that does occasional banding operations and wants the flexibility and efficiency this machine offers.