Trying to pick out an edgebander for my small custom shop. we just got a giben g4 evo cnc with off feed table and are setting it up to do cabinets, built ins , vanities , we do all kinds of cabinets and a little of everything banding wise , mostly thin wood veneer , .5 - 1mm maybe 2 mm wood coil banding. Very little pvc banding. Some hardwood strip banding . Is pre milling a must have? High frequency motors ?

Felder and cantek both have dealers close by who i have relationships with.

Options
Scm me20 - 8000
Cantek mx340m - 12300
Scm me25 - 14000
Felder g330 - 14500
Cantek mx340 - 16500
Cantek mx350m w premil - 16500
Felder g360 premil hi freq - 20500
Cantek mx350 premill hi freq - 21600
Scm me 28 w premill - 22600

im leaning toward the cantek mx350m as it has a lot of features and also adjusts from the front so i can push it up against a wall or equipment (small shop)

If your talking pretty much all wood banding I wouldnt be overly concerned with pre-mill at all. But if you even remotely think you will move into any reasonable amount of melamine/laminate with PVC it would seem a wise consideration.

Small shop here and the issue for me is the time it takes to re-set from one setup to the next with regards to the bander. For a small shop like us to move from 1mm to 3mm PVC radiused or bevel edge is not a simple 2 second change over. So if your going to be running a lot of different edge profiles or thicknesses I would be wanting a machine that can make those adjustments with extreme speed and repeatability (like running one job spec in the a.m. and a different one that afternoon). My guess is far and away out of the budget your posting but no idea.

Once I get our machine dialed in I dread changing it. So given my limited experience in a small shop I would lock down your offering to the couple bander options you offer so you can swap over quickly and repeatably, or invest in a machine that will facilitate fast swaps for you.

Talk to your local dealers and if they have machines in stock, see if you can run some samples with the various edgebands you anticipate using. That way you can see how well they feed, glue, and trim the different materials and thicknesses. Edgebanders are fussy machines, and having a local dealer and service technician would be a big plus.

I would look into premill and corner rounding. When I purchased my cnc I didn't think I needed premill and corner rounding on a bander. With all of the textured melamine on the market I regret no premill and corner rounding. Markets change and I limited my self with my bander.
I have alot more secondary work after the part is banded.

Best of luck

I have never used Felder or Cantek, so it can’t comment on them, I have owned scm and Brandt. I like both of them but my first choice was the Brandt. The Brandt and the Scm run in the opposite direction, something to consider depending on your shop layout. I have also used a Casadei bander which was similar to the SCM, I also owned a Holtzer bander years ago, but the only thing I would compare it to is a boat anchor.

I would for sure recommend a glue pot and corner rounding. Premill would be a nice option to have, but I currently don’t have it and everything is cut straight and true so really no need for premill.

Jim, what kind of cnc do you have that you require premill?

Scott,

Cnc is an omnitech and it cuts great a true work horse. I want the premill to improve the glue line with certain textured melamine colors.

Just installed a Cantek 370 with corner round and pre-mill for around 26k.

I had two minor issues before the training tech came and I was able to get a phone call back from Cantek within an hour. We brainstormed and got everything running.
I’m hands on and prefer to do my own mechanical work if issues arise so having responsive service was paramount.

What is the difference between the mx340/350 and mx340/350m and is the price difference worth it?