Hello friends,
I am looking into buying an edgebander for my shop. I have been using my neighbors small SCM bander the last couple of years and before that using a small hot air blower version. My neighbors is an older used machine and its been getting worse, so I think its about time I invest in my own.

I run a small cabinet/furniture shop, myself and a helper. I am aware that edgebanders are the most fussy machines that we can buy so I was thinking about biting the bullet and getting a big name edgebander like a Holzher. But between the size and the cost, I'm not sure its worth it to go that level of machine given my shop size. I have a small smallish shop so I could make a holzher 1054 or similar machine fit but it would definitely take up a lot of space.

I am also entertaining the idea of getting a felder 360 with pre-mill or something like it because its half of what a pre-mill holzher would be.

Its a situation where I could finance the bigger more reputable machine and hopefully not have to mess with it very often but that's never a guarantee. Or I can go with the smaller less expensive competitor machine that may need more messing around on a regular basis.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in these shoes.
What did you do?
Would you have done something different?
What machine did you end up going with?

What ever you do, be sure to see a Holzher with glue cartridges in operation. Be sure to compare that with any glue pot, especially where maintenance and glue change-over is concerned.

I agree with Greg on the cartridge for a small operation that may opt to change colors. I know some local shops running large banders rarely change colors because they maintain super tight glue-lines on dark colors and whites but I run an older bander and it doesnt run all day every day so the ability to quickly change colors without having a machine with interchangeable glue pots (expensive) is super handy for my small shop. We can change glue colors from natural to white to black in no time. I dont have much experience with gluepot machines but the cartridge system is so simple its a no brainer for me.

I was an tech that worked on Holz-Her edgebanders for 35+ years. I worked on machines all over the USA, Caribbean, Canada and even in S. America.

Whenever I would run into a former customer that had changed brands they would more often than not would tell me "I wish I had my old Holz-HER back!" That says something right there.

HH have the fewest number of moving glue station parts of any brand and that is important. Heat up times is less than 5 minutes and color change is two minutes but with the new colorless glues that isn't as important any more.

the remainder of the machine is about as simple as you can get and still have a quality, long-lasting machine. Yes, there are less expensive machines out there but trying to get parts and tech support can be a real problem. There is a reason they cost less.

If space is an issue then mount it on rollers and move it when you don't need it. Works every time.

Buying a cheap, no-name bander is similar to buying a motor scooter to pull your delivery trailer.

Lee,
When you say "colorless glue" are you referring to Natural? I have only ever seen cartridges in white, black, natural, and Mahogany.

If you are planning to be in business for a long time and want something super reliable and iron clad. Id suggest OTT. theyre not the cheapest out there but the quality is truly impressive. I used to be a service tech for Holz Her, Homag and Akhurst over the 25 years of being in this business and OTT is certainly different. Their combi melt glue system is brillianlty design and I speak from a service techs perspective. Now full dislocure, as of two weeks I became the OTT dealer in Canada mainly because I wanted a premium product to offer along side my Turkish imports which aren't too bad either frankly, but you should really take a close look at OTT, itll last 25 years easily. My Associate Rob Young at NuTek Machinery in Cleveland (440) 543 6784 or Rob@nutekmachinery.com . is the importer and he has a larger Storm in his showroom that you could see live. Ott does make smaller versions too.