Edgebanding Guns & Machines

[jeffreymcgrew]

So I'm looking at a project that will have a lot of edgebanding going on.

Up 'till now, I've just done edgebanding with a hand iron and a trimmer.

I know that they have these edgebanding 'guns' available, but I've never worked with one. Are they better? Faster?

I also know that they have edgebanding machines. Am I correct that they are big and expensive, and so I should just farm the edgebanding to someone who already has one?

Thanks!

[myxpykalix]

Where are you located? I have a friend who has (had) two and was selling one, do you want me to find out if he still has one or possibly can have him do it for you?

[jeffreymcgrew]

We're in Oakland, CA. I'm down for buying my own 'gun', no so much down for buying a big machine, but would still like to hear more about what people's experiences with them have been.

[Gary Campbell]

Jeffrey...
We have just agonized over the same decision. Started out looking at the guns, then the hot air machines, used older machines, etc, etc.

If you do your homework you will find that the inexpensive machines are not really much faster than the iron. The hot air machines dont trim ends that well. All the machines that do everything well and fast are over $50K. We were lucky, we found a 2004 machine with guillutine, high freq trimmers a dual buffers. A medium priced ($35K) for $10K. So my advice would be to find a bargain priced machine that will do more than lay tape on. Good luck.
Gary

[bcammack]

I cannot help but imagine that there is a lot of fairly new equipment turning up at auction due to the economy.

[bleeth]

From my experience I believe in the Holtzer sprint series. depending on when they built it it may have model numbers of 1410 or others. It is their entry level machine that has module capability up to thick veneer strips, buffing for 3mm, strip magazine as well as rolls. Setup is cnc controlled for different material and the glue cartriges beat the heck out of pellets. The real issue when buying one of these is delivery and setup. They are big and heavy and if you don't already know how they work it it will take some training. They can be expensive to fix so you don't want to make mistakes.

[jeffreymcgrew]

Hmm... thanks for the great advice.

I think I'll just farm the edgebanding out to another shop that has one of the $50K machines, and does a lot more production cabinetry than we do. We've got a friend who works there and they said that due to things slowing down a bit that they can 'sneak' in smaller jobs like ours when the machines are idle.

For smaller runs of stuff I'll just stick to my trusty iron and trimmers!