Thread: Melamine edging

While edging melamine board might seem like a very simple task, it's not quite as simple as it looks. You need to have the right temperature and time, pressure and feed speed. I've got a machine that would cost about $15K to buy new today (it's a lower end model, try x10 for a bells and whistles model). It does a pretty good job, with a bit of finessing, adjusting, and swearing from me. It is possible to get a good job with a hand iron, it's just a matter of getting all the above right. If you don't feel like wasting a few hundred metres of tape (or apprenticing yourself to a cranky old cabinetmaker who cuffs you round the head if you get it wrong) then it's possible to buy peel and stick edging which will save you a lot of grief. Available at Lincoln Sentry nationally and all good cabinet maker's suppliers.

Mick

Tiger, I made a couple of projects out of melamine on the weekend. I had the board in the superjaws with the edge at about chest height. As I was ironing on the edging I watched underneath the edging, It was easy to see when the glue was melting properly (the voids gradually filled), but this took longer than I had previously been allowing.

The lesson being, for me anyway, that the glue takes a bit longer to melt thoroughly than I had been allowing. Nothing earth shattering there, just something I noted.

BTW, as the topic is under discussion, I bought one of those (darkside ) double edge trimmers at the woodshow last year, pic of similar below, used it and was surprised with the good job it did. Still cleaned up with a file in a couple of places but that was just being fussy.

www.toolstoday.com/images/newtoolimg/3400.jpg

I had been using a small router with a flush trim bit then the file but the trimmer was quicker and less fiddly.

I found the best technique for finishing corners was to apply the edging with an inch or so to spare off the corner, then once the glue had cooled used a sharp knife to trim back to 1mm or less to spare, then file carefully. Voila - quality corners!


Cheers.....................Sean

Thanks guys, I won't be buying any hi priced equipment for the moment Mick, not unless I get a 20k payrise. I also bought one of the double edge trimmers from Carbatec and yes it sure beats using a stanley knife or chisel to cut the tape. What had me curious was that I felt that I had put the tape on well to begin with and that it was only coming off in certain places.