Edgebander Glue Choices and Temperature Settings
Tips on choosing glue and tweaking the edgebander for good adhesive performance. November 23, 2008
Question
I need to buy some glue cartridges for a Holz-Her edgebander, and I was wondering if there's a consensus on what brand is better primarily for PVC. Canplast, Jowat, Dorus and Kleiberit are all brands that are available from different suppliers with the cost being anywhere from $92/45 cartridges to about $200/45 cartridges for a "premium" glue. Is the cost difference worth it?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor P:
How many feet of edgebanding does the 45 sticks represent? What does the cost difference work out to on a per-foot basis? What's it cost you to repair a failed edge?
I use pellet glue, and the cost difference between standard and premium grades isn't as great, but it seems to me that this is one place where you want to use the absolute best quality available. With differences in substrates, panel temperature, different banding types, it just doesn't pay to mess around. I might be throwing a little money away, but I don't need one more thing to lose sleep over!
Check other sources for your glue - calls to ESI and two other distributors yielded substantial differences in pricing for the same (premium, natch!) product.
From contributor D:
I have been running a Holz-Her about a year now. It was recommended to me by several people to use only the Dorus HKP 25. I did purchase some unfilled Kleiberit, but could not get it to stick no matter what temperature I ran. The owner here wanted to test some Jowat because it was so much cheaper. Did not like the bond strength or the glue line on that product also. I only use the HKP 25 now and am pleased with it. I did add a pre-heat to the fence for those cold winter months. It really helps the bond. I also did not try the canplast in the cartridges because I did not like it in our older bander. Also I think it is the same as the Jowat. In glue, as in most things, you get what you pay for.
From contributor T:
Ditto. Jowat was problematic on my older Holz-Her. Went to Dorus and the bond got better. Since we got a new Holz-Her, it's been nothing but Dorus. I don't like the price either! Especially when you are purging or something happens on the run and a lot of glue gets wiped onto the side of the glue station. Every time I am scraping glue from the side or front of the glue station I'm thinking, "I'm scraping dollar bills into the garbage!"
From contributor P:
So much for the Holz-Her "no muss-no fuss" propaganda! Of course, I'm having the same thoughts as I'm cleaning my gluepot!
From contributor J:
I'll clean the little dribble once every couple weeks from my Holz-Her over a pot any day! I usually just add 5-10 degrees to my nozzle temp in the winter months, and keep my shop from getting colder than about 50 degrees or so as much as possible. I’ve run Holz-Her for the last 13 years and the warmer glue temp at the nozzle, even in a very cold (Costal South Carolina cold) shop, has always turned the trick.
From contributor D:
I was not too sure about the Holz-Her system myself, so I bought a machine that was about 2 years old with low hours to try it out before purchasing new. Our Brandt was really in need of a major rebuild, so I looked at a lot of different brands of bander. After having a certified Holz-Her tech do an install and training, I worked with the machine quite a bit over a few months time. To tell you the truth I almost got to the point of selling it because the glue station was driving me crazy. I just could not get the glue application the way I wanted it. Then I discovered that even though I had a tech install the machine and another one had looked it over in Florida before shipping it, the glue station - a new one that the tech in Florida had installed - was about 2mm out of plumb to the panel. I adjusted this and it immediately cured all my problems.
Now I never touch the glue station except to adjust the height. The bander now puts on a far better band as far as glue line than our Brandt did. We had to run preheat on that machine also because when it is below 0 outside in the winter, it is imposable to get our shop above about 45 degrees until late in the day. Actually I like to use the pre-heat anyway because it gives us a thinner glue line.
I am hooked now. I would only go back to a glue pot if our production level was a lot higher. Was even thinking of getting a new Holz-Her with pre-milling.
From contributor L:
We run a Lato 38 and use Jowat - never a problem (we were told to never run Dorus or anything else). Definitely, you get what you pay for when it comes to good glue. We just shut the bander down if we aren't using it. This keeps the residue off the pot and we stopped scraping money away. If you are going to run strips of laminate through the bander, don't forget to prime them.
From contributor Y:
We've tried several adhesives and have settled on Dorus (pellets) for our IDM58. Best results on HPL and wood come when they are primed (with a Dorus primer or dilute PVA glue.) The cost of a banding failure is so high that buying the best adhesive is cheap insurance. So is a well-trained operator. Glue pot or cartridge makes little difference at the light duty end of the scale.
From contributor M:
You got lots of good tips from experienced users. Dorus has the proper viscosity and open time to provide maximum results with the HOLZ-HER glue station. Use HKP25 for thick PVC and wood coils, laminate and solid wood strips. HKP21 is suitable for thin PVC and wood coils. You have to make a judgment call based on what you run the majority of the time. I have some customers who primarily apply thin PVC and wood and use HKP21 and keep some HKP25 on hand for the other occasional applications. If you have an equal mix of banding requirements, you may find it easier to utilize HKP25 always and not be concerned with the operator using the right glue.
A couple of other things to keep in mind:
1. Glue temp needs to be adjusted up and down to compensate for seasonal temperature swings. Adjusting the temperature at the nozzle +/- 5 degrees usually suffices.
2. It is also a good practice to run a glue line test when changing the temperature in order to insure proper coverage on the start/end points of the panel.
Remember to take time to clean your glue station at the end of each day you operate the machine. Be diligent to perform regular service on the dozing rod. It only takes about 30 minutes. I encourage my customers to do it every month. Like changing the oil in your car... can't do it too often!
