Furniture edging, how to choose and install yourself

Recently, designers rarely use natural wood to make furniture; they are much more likely to use chipboard or MDF. These relatively recently invented materials are easy to process, durable and cost-effective for customers. In addition, they fit into any interior due to the possibility of choosing the most attractive coating. The main difficulty for craftsmen is edge processing. Unlike natural wood, the raw edges of particle boards do not look aesthetically pleasing and quickly collapse, rendering furniture unusable. Furniture edge helps to deal with this problem. It can be selected in the color of the furniture to imitate the wood massif, or contrasted, giving the interior an unusual and original look.

Advantages and disadvantages

Not a single production of chipboard furniture can do without edge treatment. For these purposes I use various materials, but the furniture edging remains the most popular. It has a number of attractive advantages for designers and customers:

Quick and easy installation without the use of glue;
Replacement of unusable parts can be done on their own without the use of specific tools;
Due to the coverage of the edges, you can hide defects that appear during the cutting of parts.

But a comfortable furniture edging has several drawbacks:

In comparison with the furniture edge, the fixing strength is slightly lower;
It is not always convenient when the trim element extends beyond the edges of the furniture;
It is quite difficult to choose materials that are ideally combined with the texture of the sheets of chipboard.

Varieties

Finishing the edge of the chipboard is a mandatory procedure, for this they use a melamine film, which is the cheapest option, and a furniture edging, which is represented by several types:

Kant invoice;
Mortise;
Flexible (soft);
Hard;
With girths;
Without girths.

The choice is based on the features of the furniture, its design and on the selected installation method.

Overhead

The patch edge has a C-shaped section and can be installed without the use of a power tool. To carry out all the work, the master will need only a knife or scissors and glue. It is convenient to use liquid nails as a bonding material, they are easy to apply and fix the furniture edging on the product well. If you want to additionally protect furniture from moisture, for example, in the kitchen, or in another room with high humidity, then you can use sealant instead of liquid nails.

For proper fastening of the material to particle boards, the adhesion of the material should be increased. To do this, treat the inner surface of the lining with a sharp object, such as a knife or scissors. Applied in a chaotic manner, shallow scratches increase the adhesion of the material to the adhesive. They should be evenly distributed over the surface. But do not get carried away and make them deep, just a little scratches will be enough.

Flexible

This type of finish is usually used when processing furniture of irregular shape. Such edgings fit well on curved elements. They are recommended to be mounted in a warm room, where they become much softer, more obedient and well undergoes a change in shape.

The glue must dry the amount of time indicated by the manufacturer, and it takes several days for the sealant to completely harden. After the glue, liquid nails or sealant have hardened, excess can be cut off. To do this, use a sharp knife or garden secateurs. After that, the edging is completed, and the furniture can be used for its intended purpose.

Hard

Such edgings do not require the use of glue, but a small amount of sealant can be used to increase moisture resistance. The edging measured along the length simply snaps onto the edge of the chipboard, after which its edges are processed with special plugs, and the work can be considered finished.

Mortise

This type of furniture edging is characterized by a T-shaped cross section. As the name implies, it crashes into a side cut of furniture. The design is distinguished by the presence of a special leg, which is hammered into the chipboard layer - it is relatively easy to go into the thickness of the panel, but at the same time, thanks to the directional notches, it does not lose adhesion to the plate.

There are two types of furniture edgings of this design:

Soft edging is convenient to use on slices with a small radius of curvature, but they have one big drawback: when driving deep into the sheet, the soft leg bends and the installation process is difficult;
Rigid edgings are used for processing slices without large rounding, they are easily clogged, hold securely and can serve for a very long time.

The design implies the possibility of a girth or its absence. This parameter is selected depending on the obtained slice.

With girth

The option of a furniture edging with a girth is chosen in most cases, because it can easily hide small chips of the facing layer of the chipboard plate. Such irregularities appear due to the use of a jigsaw for cutting plates or when using insufficiently sharp cutting material.

No girth

Edging without a girth is used in the manufacture of furniture, where the unity of the surface is important. This material practically does not protrude above the surface of the sheet and does not violate its geometry. But when using a mortise edging without a girth, it is necessary to accurately cut the details as much as possible so as not to damage the surface of the chipboard.

Materials for the manufacture

For the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), this material is easy to process, inexpensive, requires minimal maintenance. Installation of this element will not cause difficulties even for beginners. PVC is a modern synthetic material that is resistant to humid aggressive environments. PVC is made from petroleum products mixed with salts. Ethylene is taken from the first, and chlorine is isolated from salts. In the two-stage production process, ready-made PVC granules are obtained.

In the manufacturing process, the colorless powder is fused into a single mass and stained with the help of special substances that give the desired look to the finished product. These additives do not affect the strength of the material at all.

PVC edges are made of materials with different plastic characteristics:

Soft edging;
Hard edges.

Thanks to the achievements of modern industry, it is possible to choose an edge that is suitable in design and size. In extreme cases, you can make furniture edging to order. The use of synthetic materials scares many owners, but contrary to fears, the PVC edge is absolutely safe for humans. It does not emit any harmful substances until it warms up to 100 degrees Celsius. In addition, the edge prevents the evaporation of toxins contained in a small amount in the thickness of the chipboard sheets.

Hard

Soft

How to choose and install

Any cut of furniture from wood-particle boards must be treated with a fringing tape for furniture or furniture edging. The latter option allows you to hide chips and irregularities in the cut, which occur almost always. When choosing a suitable finishing option, several parameters are guided:

Appearance - a decorative edging should harmoniously fit into the interior of the room, combined with the structure and color of the furniture;
Rigidity - depending on the shape of the cut, you can choose a soft or hard edging. The first is conveniently mounted on products of complex shape, bends well and does not lag behind the cut during operation. The second option easily snaps on straight sections or on sections of slight curvature;
Size - unlike tape for finishing slices, PVC piping cannot be cut in place. That is why it is produced in rolls and has a thickness corresponding to the sizes of the most popular chipboards.

Upholstered furniture edging is available in rolls or in measured lengths, if it is a hard edging. When the perfect edging is delivered to the place of work, you can proceed with its installation. To work with the mortise edging, the following tools should be prepared:

Manual electric milling cutter;
A milling cutter with a depth of at least 10 mm and a tooth thickness of 2.8 or 3.0 mm;
Soft or hard edging;
Rubber mallet.

Working process:

First of all, it is necessary to make a quality cut strictly in the middle of the chipboard. In order for the furniture edging to hold firmly, a groove should be made 0.5 mm less than the actual thickness of the leg;
The butt is treated with sandpaper and cleaned of sawdust and debris;
Filling a furniture edging is allowed only with the use of a rubber hammer, because other tools can damage it and worsen the appearance;
If you want to process parts with a small radius of curvature, it makes sense to make special cuts on the leg to prevent wrinkles.

After performing these steps, the furniture is completely ready for use and does not require additional processing.