A Solid Choice Basics of solid surface materials and their fabrication, and why shops are adding them to their product lines. July 20, 2002
Shopping for a Hot Veneer Press Experts provide some technical insight for the benefit of a shop owner who is trying to select a laminate and veneer press with a heated platen. August 12, 2014
Shopping for a High-Volume Laminating Machine If you're looking for manufacturing equipment to laminate a lot of vinyl to a variety of substrates, look carefully at the options. You'll have to sift through a lot of confusing claims. April 11, 2008
Diamond tooling on laminate Tool life and feed rates when using diamond tooling to cut laminate. November 7, 2001
Tools for Solid Surfacing To work with solid surfacing, you want professional quality routers and sanders, and the right type of sandpaper and bits. April 11, 2008
Countertop Equipment A brief description of post-forming and countertop sawing equipment. September 20, 2008
Quick Shop-Built Fabricating Stands A laminate shop owner describes his quick-to-make workstands made with scraps of panel material, cut to size and slotted to interlock. December 30, 2007
Does it Pay to Own an Edgebander? A good edgebander can really boost your productivity, but how much machine you need depends on how much volume you're doing. October 9, 2006
More on Spray-Applying Contact Cement An extended discussion of pressurized tanks, spray equipment, application techniques, and adhesive performance. June 10, 2006
Do Edgebanders Provide Perfect Output? Few, if any edgebanders will consistently produce panels that can pass your thumb's feel test — and none will without continual tending by a good operator. December 27, 2006
Applying Laminate with an Edgebander Yes, you can apply high-pressure laminate to panel edges using an edgebander. Here are tips on trimming and adhesives. February 16, 2012
Melamine Chipping Is it the bits, the feed rate, the material? Pros troubleshoot a case of melamine chipping on a new CNC unit. June 30, 2005
Edgeband failure Searching for causes of edgeband failure. September 26, 2000
Solid Surface CounterTop Watch as a CNC router cuts out and profiles solid surface countertops. July 12, 2007
Production Gluing of High Density Plastic Laminates This article describes the gluing of high density plastic laminates (i.e. Formica, Debar, Nevamar, Micarta, Pionite and the like) to plywood, lumber core, and particleboard core panels - 1998
Biscuit joining vs. tie-bolts Is it possible to join post-form tops and shop-built substrate with biscuits? June 24, 2001
Buying a Used Edgebander There's more to running a glue-pot edgebander than plugging it in and turning it on — so be cautious when buying used equipment. December 30, 2005
Bit Life in High Pressure Laminate How many sheets should you be able to cut before a bit wears out? Comparing carbide with diamond, and a discussion of feed rates and settings. July 3, 2005