Edgebanding

[angelosart]

I want to edge band some prefinished maple plywood. However one part of the project has a concave&convex profile. I know I can cut my own maple strips and glue them on the edge. But I’d rather nit hace to deal with glue squeeze out.

Has anyone ever tried edge banding prefinished and pre glued with an edg banding iron on a concave surface?

If you have another suggestion, would live to hear it

[Cooler]

I would have no problem applying the edge banding.  Tack both ends and the middle so that it was perfectly centered over the edge.  Heat and bond the highest point and then work you way on the radius using heavy gloves to follow the heat and keep it in place. 

My experience is that you have to keep pressure on the band after the heat is removed to make a good bond.

The bigger problem will be trimming. I think a palm sander will work.  But that is in my head.  You will have to make a test to see if it works.

[angelosart]

Cooler,

Do you think the flat iron will work over the concave profile?  I'll test it first, we'll see.

You are right about the trimming being the bigger problem.  However I don't think the palm sander will work because I'm using pre finished plywood.  Will have to do it the hard way.

Thanks,
Angelo

[rwe2156]

Why is glue squeeze out a problem?  It is a normal part of ww'ing.

You will have much better results using solid wood. Use a flush trim bit and a profile bit.

Do you mean convex? That will be a pain. Concave will be impossible with an iron you need something with a matching profile.

[Cooler]

Why is glue squeeze out a problem?  It is a normal part of ww'ing.

You will have much better results using solid wood.  Use a flush trim bit and a profile bit.

Do you mean convex?  That will be a pain.  Concave will be impossible with an iron you need something with a matching profile.

I assumed he meant convex.  I agree that concave would not work unless you had a special shaped iron.

[Cooler]

Cooler,

Do you think the flat iron will work over the concave profile?  I'll test it first, we'll see.

You are right about the trimming being the bigger problem.  However I don't think the palm sander will work because I'm using pre finished plywood.  Will have to do it the hard way.

Thanks,
Angelo

I think if you rock the iron slowly from side to side you will get glue melt.  You would then need to put pressure on the band until the glue cools enough to adhere.  

Re-thinking now, I think a balled up rag would work for applying the pressure and protecting your hands from the heat.

I always trim edge banding with a palm sander.  You need to press on an angle towards the glue side so that you don't tear it off.  I usually put about a 20 degree angle on the edges and make sure that the band is not at all proud of the surface.  If it is proud of the surface you will eventually catch something on the offending edge and tear it off.

I think the palm sander will work; you will have to discover what angle to hold the sander at.  I can't think of any way to control a utility knife blade in a way that will allow a neat trim.

[angelosart]

rwe,
Actually I mean both convex and concave.  I just thought concave part would be a harder profile to follow with the iron.  Below is a pic of the profile, you'll see that its both.  I'm leaning toward the solid would like you said.  I'm using pre-finished plywood, so I'm concerned about cleaning up the glue squeeze out without damaging or compromising the finish.


Cooler
I see what you mean about the 20deg angle.

At this point I'm going to test both options on a prototype and see from there.

Thanks for the help!

Angelo

[Cooler]

The other problem is that the radius will require a wider band of edging.  I know that we trim the edging for boards, but it might not be wide enough for the radius.  You may end up having to use 1½" wide banding.

It might be easier to glue on some thicker edge material and put on the radius yourself.

This magazine article shows six options for edging plywood:  https://issuu.com/kimundo/docs/six_ways_to_edge_plywood