The Downfall of Veneer Trim Tape.

Plywood is a marvelous thing. Many modern woodworking projects would be impossible without it. It does, however, come with a persistent problem. What do you do with that ugly edge?

Enter the iron on edge tape. It seemed to be an innovative solution. Small strips of veneer with a pre-glued side that could be attached with a regular household iron. The perfect solution!

Not even close. I have just finished the last project I will ever do with iron on veneer tape. After years of growing dissatisfaction I have come to the conclusion that this is an inferior product and inferior solution to the plywood edge problem. What follows is my long list of beefs with this product.

1) The glue. I get it, I really do . . . a pre-applied hot wax glue is very convenient. Frankly, though, it just stinks as a glue. How many times to you use a hot glue gun in wood construction? Never, and for good reason. It is simply not the appropriate glue for the job.

2) Heat issues. Following from the last issue is the fact that you heat the glue to apply it. More specifically you heat the wood to apply it. Any time you apply heat to somethings you are bound to get warping issues. When using veneer tape you heat it, it warps, you press it on in its warped form then let it cool. As it cools it un-warps (or warps in a different manner) putting stress on the tape.

3) Lifting. Combine the heat warping with the already inferior glue and tape lifting and peeling become extremely common. I can't count the number of times I have come across veneer edging that is lifting away. I've seen it in both amateur and pro, both hand and machine applied construction.

4) Cutting to size. The tape comes over sized. For good reason, you need to accommodate a variety of plywood thicknesses. However, that means you have to trim it down to size once you have glued it on. I have multiple tools designed to do this, none do it well. I've tried knives and chisels, I've used my flush trimming router, nothing does a great job. This is partly due to the fact that the tape is too thin, partly due to the grain direction on the tape, and partly a host of other problems. This is not to say that you can't get a good edge, you can; it just takes time and patience. And here is the crux of it, it takes enough time that I could have done a different edge finish and got a better result in the same time frame.

5) Staining. The final problem with the trim tape is, in my mind, the irredeemable failure of the product. It does not take stain well. On a light or natural stain this is unnoticeable, but as soon as you use a dark stain . . . oi! The color you get from two coats on a sheet of plywood veneer might take five coats to achieve on the veneer edge tape. I'm not sure why this is, whether is is the wax glue saturating the wood and closing its pores or what, but I have found it to be universally true. It doesn't matter the type of wood or the type or color of stain, it just doesn't match the rest of the project. For this I have no tolerance.

For all these reasons, and a few more that need not be mentioned I am abandoning the use of veneer edge tape. What will I do instead? Well, that is another post.