How to make hardwood edge banding look good

Which hardwood do you recommend for birch plywood edges?

Does anyone edge a 10ft desk? I’ve done a ton of banding, but it would be useful to gain tips on how other handle the size while retaining the quality. I tend to use biscuits with larger 1/2inch edge.

Some advice from the experts and experienced woodworkers please: I have a 30" x 20" oval Maple table top and I want to put a 3/4" walnut edging around it. My first obstacle is the oval shape and the second obstacle is the fact that it is walnut and quite stiff. So steam bending is probably the way to go? Should I cut the walnut into thinner strips, say about 2/16 each and then steam and bend around and clamp to take shape and let it dry out and after they dried out, apply glue and clamp strip by strip - overlapping them, until the desired thickness is reached? (I am quite scared that bending the entire 3/4" - even when steamed, may result in the walnut to crack.)

Thanks @Stumpy Nubs!
I just finished edge banding my new melamine and plywood router table top with solid wood. I followed your advice and it came out awesome! I built the trimming jig. It is SO easy to finally have precise and repeatable results!
Thanks again!

what kind of router bit did you use?

Question! I’m trying to restore some teak side tables, but I’m wondering if iron on edge banding is appropriate? Or whether hardwood veneer is the better route?
Thanks in advance!

Needed this info. Thanks!

Question, how to finish the top now ? edge has walnut, what about the top ?

Hi.. Can I remove old wooden hedge banding without damage for reuse

Break the top edges of the oversized banding before glue-up, this will keep the sharp edge from cutting the masking tape.

Hi James, I hope this is not a stupid question, but here goes - I have glued my hardwood to my plywood and clamped with blue tape (so far so good), but I cannot really tell which direction I should be routing (the grain seems very straight running in both directions - It's red oak fyi... Part B to this question, can I just use a router table instead of the jig? Thanks for the insight, love the channel

This is amazing! I enjoyed this so much! i did too

I saw a sashimono video where the gentleman use a string to provide clamping pressure for hardwood edging. It was slower process, but is easily removed once the glue dried.

On smaller pieces, you can also apply a stretch of tape the entire length of the piece, a few inches away from the edge band. then clamp it down normally with shorter pieces of tape, overlapping the long tape. once dry, pull off the long tape and all the shorter ones will come off at once.

Nice!

Hi stumpy love your channel .

Great vid. My first comment. Keep up the great video

très bien

[off topic] I finally got a pair of those isotunes. Loved them - past tense. I ran over them with the mower. New pair on the way, so this time I got there from a link from your site. Tried to find the $10 discount code from you, but failed. Oh well. Thanks for your interesting videos. I learn a lot from them.

I know a lot about woodworking I’ve been doing it for years but there’s always some small trick that one can pick up and I appreciate looking at this for those ideas

Just ordered my duragrit hand sander. Thanks!

I made my own edge banding out of 3/4 in Birch for a Birch Plywood storage cabinet 2 weeks ago. I didn't even know it was called edge banding until I watched this video. 😅

How do you like to handle corners? Mitered, lap, something else?

When is iron on edge banding the best choice and when should I make my own? I have too many projects to guess any more and I need to focus on competition while not having to look back with regret.

um, I think I'll just use aluminum edging. sigh

I've always been a fan of edge banding a plywood "board" with strips that are long grain on the sides, but end grain on the end. To make the end grain edge banding, glue up a panel of the hardwood that's very wide, but not necessarily long, and rip the strips from that, across the grain. No real board has long grain running around all four sides, so end grain banding promotes the illusion it's a real board.

Good tip James. Especially about the saw blades.👍

Great info. Dump the mustache.

such good information. thanks!

Thanks for the tip about going along with the grain. I always give you a thumbs up before I watch the video. You've never disappointed to date. (I like to crush a troll, too.)

That jig is pretty slick. Thanks.

love the jig idea, thanks.

👍 Thank you James for another great video and tips.

Are you sure about not needing clamps?

Great tips again! that is why I love your channel so much!

The simple trimming jig was a great tip that makes trimming with router a much more stable solution. I usually use a hand plane and finish off with a sanding block if required, but maybe I should try your jig for faster trimming.

Thanks for your great videos. Link to tormek doesn’t work. I’ll find it anyway. Just in case you earn any commission though, I thought I’d let you know.

You CANNOT go wrong watching and listening to James's advice.

I was with you until the router and massive jig to bring the overhang flush. Why not use a hand plane? So much easier and some very useful exercise at the same time.

Great tips. Thanks

I love these short videos with tips! Thanks!

Love this video

Your plywood jig needs edgebanding on it

Good timing, I’m planning a project with some hardwood edgebanding! You said this wouldn’t be structural...but could it be with a decent glueup? My plan was to use 3/4” for the band instead of 1/4”, to reinforce plywood bookshelves (possibly on each side, I haven’t decided that yet)

Where are the links to the table saw videos that you refer to? Thanks!

Thank You. Great insights. So many valuable tips.

👍Gracias!, a tu video, maestro carpintero

Always good tips, great channel 👍

Great video! Thanks for the video about stacked dados I now know what to look for!

Thanks for the saw blade reminder. I'm terrible about using the right blade LoL.