Festool Conturo vs cheaper alternatives.

[Lefley]

I need an edge bander mainly for cabinets. Tired of cheap iron and want to install better edges on cabinets. I only do a few cabinets a year, plus I'm doing my whole house. Any one use any of these models. And are the cheaper alternatives worth it?

 

[peter-harrison]

I've got a Comatic one- also sold as Le-matic. It's the same format as the Festool. I made a table for it which is very useful for smaller workpieces. I use it from time to time- probably a bit more than it seems you are going to. It's perfect for what I use it for. I used to have one of the ones which is like a hot air gun mounted on a baseboard with some rollers. I'd avoid that. It's a lot cheaper but because you have to use pre-glued tape it's harder to get the tape and it's less versatile, and the glue often doesn't stick properly.

 

[Ollie78]

I looked at them before, there is no cheap option. A second hand static machine was the cheapest I found. Some of them don't like doing just a few doors, they are designed for all day use and need warming up and cooling down etc. That is one advantage of the Festool one.
It didn't seem worth investing for my particular case.
Mostly if I need edging I do a small solid wood lipping, for doors just paint.
I guess you could buy it, do your house and get 70% back by selling it after.

Ollie

 

[Spectric]

Why not solid edging, it can be very thin once finished and I think gives a better look. That Festool is about £2500 + vat so is it really worth it for just a few cabinets a year ? Make the fact you use solid edgebanding a selling feature, ie look at my cabinets they don't just use slap on edging but a quality solid edging and no cost to yourself.

 

[T-H]

My father used the Virutex one: it's only for applying the banding but seemed to worked fine until he invested into a standalone machine.
Once glued you still need to finish it off by trimming/sanding/etc.
https://www.virutextools.com/hand-held-hot-air-edgebander-ag98f-pid295Maybe you can find a second hand one cheap?

 

[Distinterior]

Some of the static machines wont do curved edges/ corners.....but they do normally trim the ends and edges for you all in one go.
I assume the Le/Co matic ones will do curves and the Festool Conturo certainly does!

If you are only doing smaller panels with straight edges, then a second hand static machine may suit you best.
But, .....larger panels or curved panels, you may be better with a portable hand held machine.....but you will have to trim the edges & ends yourself......It all depends on the type of work you are planning on doing with the machine.

This shelf was edged with the Festool Conturo this morning.....Grey 1mm thick edging to match the colour of the doors and the curve is a 30mm internal radius....