Tablesaw-trim edge banding

Don't precariously perch a router on the edge of a plywood shelf to clean up overhanging edges on solid-wood or veneer banding. Instead, make an auxiliary fence 4–6" tall and cut a rabbet into its face at least as wide as the blade's kerf. Mount the auxiliary fence to your rip fence and position it so that its face is flush with the outside edge of the blade. (Test the setup by running scrapwood against the fence: If the blade contacts the scrap, nudge the fence closer to the blade and test it again.) Hold the shelf to be trimmed—banding down, with the excess edging in the rabbet, as shown above photo-and trim it flush. For best results, use an 80-tooth carbide blade and zero-clearance insert.

Trim edge banding, the sequel Use a similar technique to flush-trim the excess length from solid-wood edge banding. This time, though, cut a notch just a whisker wider than your saw blade in a piece of scrapwood spacer, as shown in the photo right. Again, position your fence so that the outside edge of the spacer is flush with the outside of the blade, and make a test cut. Finally, trim off the end of the banding as shown.