Edgebanding and Butt Joints
Rounded-over edgebanding creates an issue of a "soft" joint where edges butt to one another. Here, cabinetmakers discuss whether that's a problem in commercial work. April 20, 2007
Question
I'm new to having an edgebander capable of 3mm banding. If you are using an edgebander to apply 3mm PVC banding, if the machine shapes a 3mm radius on the top and bottom of the panel, when a cabinet top or bottom butts into a gable, there will be a gap where the radius was routed away on the gable. And if two cabinets are butted together, again there is a gap where the radius was formed on the gables.
What is the commercial cabinet industry doing… using the banders to do the radius on cabinet parts and then living with the gap, or trimming the banding square and maybe adding a radius by hand on the insides of the cabinets?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor K:
I set my bander to trim the edges of cabinet ends almost square. Pull the routers back so that they just break the edge. This makes the gap much less. Of course, if you're doing small jobs, you lose a lot of time and material setting and resetting the machine. Some casework companies get away with the valley that the rolled edge makes. If you're unsure, I would submit a mockup cabinet before I ran a whole project through the machine.
From contributor P:
In most cases in commercial cabinets, 3mm is required on the doors and drawer fronts and the cases will have 1mm. Like I said, most cases - I have seen 2mm on both. Usually the specs will call this out.
From contributor H:
Contributor P is correct that the 3mm is used on the doors most of the time. Most 3mm banders are bought with plc control and overriding all the automatic adjustments to switch from regular to 3mm banding would be an amazing waste of time and machinery. I use 3mm for closets on the gables and shelves and customers like the soft look and no one has ever remarked on the butt joint at all. I use the 3mm on solid wood banding for matched veneer kitchen doors and it sells the kitchen.
From the original questioner:
Thanks for the responses. 3mm on cabinet parts is specced on a lot of commercial work in this area; I've been checking into what some of the shops are doing, and most or a lot are trimming it square, or almost square. On my edgebander, it's just a matter of pulling that unit back 2.5 mm, so it's easy.
From contributor J:
We trim at 90 degrees on case parts that butt. Doors, drawer fronts, adjustable shelves are trimmed with a radius. On a new bander, the set up change takes but a few seconds.
