I've decided to replace my bander. I'm looking at a Cantek mx340/350m series machine and am really wondering if the premill is worth the $6k upcharge?? My current bander has no premill. I keep my slidesaw cutting square and chipfree, so I fail to see the value in the premill besides removing the sum of the banding thickness so my panels are true to size and not +1/32". The way I figure it, if for some reason I wanted to premill the edge of my carcass parts, I can set up the shaper with an insert cutterhead and power feed to do the same task for MUCH cheaper, with a faster line speed.

Anyone think premills are worth +$6k? What about the viability of using the shaper for the premill task?

I can't tell you whether adding pre-mill is worth $6k but to add another operation on the shaper would be nuts. Pre-mill on the bander is in conjunction with the rest of the operation so no, a shaper will not be faster, it will be additional.
I often run banding for a neighbouring shop. Their cuts are a bit wonky. Pre mill would take care of that. Also you would not have to be as concerned with melamine chipping - you could use an TCG blade for instance instead of a high ATB or scoring.
What are your expansion plans? Will you stay a one person shop for the next five years? If not, can you trust the person who will cut stock to be as careful about cut quality? Pre-mill can be seen as redundant or as a quality guarantee regardless of employee skills.

I have also wondered about this and am thinking about a new bander, I'm pretty new to frameless and don't know what I don't know. I have never really seen one in use. Is it helpful for parts that are coming off a CNC or is it intended to help parts from a saw? Does it clean up the somewhat fuzzy edge of melamine so the banding doesn't telegraph the imperfections?

I think premill is worth every penny. You never have to worry about chipped panels making it to a site.

It also allows you to sharpen your blades less often and when you sell the bander, it'll be much easier to sell and you'll get more money for it. I don't know anyone that's bought a bander without premill in the last 5 years.

One thing that is often overlooked is the other primary purpose of the pre-miller. Yes it is great for removing chips from material but ultimately it is also designed to mill the part to perfectly align with the glue dosing roller to give you the correct glue line. Some premills actually need to be centered on the part due to the chevron shape of the head itself. This style removes more material in the center of the part to accommodate the crowned nature of most edging material.

The also work perfectly for flush trimming any build up or drop down edges you may be running through the machine. I would happily pay any upcharge to get a machine equipped with one

Ok fellas, you've convinced me to get a premill unit. I have been quite happy with sales/service from a local dealer pushing Cantek. So I'm looking at a Cantek MX350m machine. There's also a 2-year old lightly used Cehisa with same line speed and optioned out the same for a very similar price from a large shop who upgraded to a bigger bander. Given the obvious difference of made in Spain vs. Taiwan, is there any reason to favour Cantek vs Cehisa or vice versa?

Premillennialism is definitely a must. The quality of the edge is just better than without. I have a Vantedge and I am very happy with it. They have multiple models and are a great value

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