Wasted $130 on a cheap edge bander from overseas

Man, I gotta warn you guys about this. Last month I bought this portable edge bander off an online marketplace for $130 because it had decent reviews and I do a lot of small batch work in my garage shop. Figured it would save me from hand taping and ironing every single panel. First job with it was ten shelves of 3/4 ply and the thing kept slipping the tape off the wheel, then the glue melted uneven and left this nasty residue on my workpiece. I spent more time scraping and redoing edges than if I'd just used my old iron method. By the third shelf the motor started making this grinding noise and now it just sits in the corner. The seller won't respond to messages and shipping it back would cost almost as much as the unit. Has anyone else gotten burned by cheap imported edge banders, or is there a budget model that actually holds up for light duty work?

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mitchell.shane25d ago

That grinding noise is all too familiar, I had the same thing happen with a similar priced unit I bought last year. My tape kept slipping off the wheel too, and I ended up with glue globs on a batch of cabinet doors that took forever to clean off. I finally went back to my iron and it works fine for light duty, so your mileage may vary but I sure as heck won't buy another one of those.