HPL, melamine, TFL and wood veneer in the real colors on our TFL Door color picker, plus thermofoil, acrylic, painted and solid wood cut open, and six kinds of edgebanding, plus how an edgebander puts it on and the real control screen that runs it. Pick a brand, slide from lightest to darkest, hover the layers to pull them apart. Facts come from our TFL vs pages.
01HPL in real colors NEW
Formica
High-pressure laminate
Build
Resin-saturated layers pressed into a rigid sheet, then glued on
Glue line
Adhesive bond that can fail over decades
Durability
Highest scratch, impact, abrasion and chemical resistance
Moisture
Excellent (non-porous)
Lifespan
25+ years
Cost
Highest
From our TFL vs HPL and HPL vs Melamine pages. Colors are real swatches from the TFL Door color picker, where they are offered as TFL.
02Melamine in real colors NEW
Solids
Melamine · low-pressure laminate
Build
Low-pressure overlay on substrate
Durability
Good for light use; prone to chipping and scratching
Decorative paper fused directly to the board, no glue
Glue line
None; the surface is part of the panel
Durability
Excellent scratch, stain, impact and heat resistance
Moisture
Very good (especially with MR cores)
Lifespan
20+ years
Cost
Mid-range
From our TFL vs HPL and TFL vs Melamine pages. Every color here is a real swatch from the TFL Door color picker, which has 1,200+ colors from 7 brands.
Solid PVC plastic in the board's color (woodgrains are printed on)
Thickness
Thin 0.5 mm tape up to 3 mm
Edge
Trimmed flush and rounded on the machine, so it takes bumps well
Moisture
The plastic is waterproof; the glue line is the weak spot
Used on
TFL and melamine doors, drawer fronts and cabinet boxes
TFL Door doors are 3/4″ TFL with color-matched edgeband on every exposed edge, put on with a CNC Fuse 8 edgebander. See our Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
10ABS edgebanding, cut open NEW
ABS edgebanding
ABS edgebanding
Made of
ABS plastic, the same family as LEGO bricks, with no chlorine
Look
Looks and trims almost the same as PVC
Planet
Chlorine-free, so it is easier to recycle and burns cleaner
Watch for
Can be a little more brittle than PVC in the cold
Cost
Usually a bit more than PVC
Shown on a real Wilsonart TFL color, cut open at true scale. See our Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
11Melamine edge tape, cut open NEW
Melamine edge tape
Melamine edge tape
Made of
Decor paper soaked in resin, the same idea as the face
Glue
Often pre-glued, so it can be ironed on by hand
Edge
So thin the corner stays sharp, which is also where it chips
Wear
Wears through and peels at corners that get bumped
Cost
The cheapest band; best for shelves and hidden edges
Most store-bought melamine shelving uses this tape. See our Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
12Wood veneer edgebanding, cut open NEW
Wood veneer edgebanding
Wood veneer edgebanding
Made of
A thin slice of real wood, often backed with paper or fleece
Matches
Veneer plywood faces in the same species
Finish
Needs stain and a clear coat along with the face
Watch for
Thin tape can dent, split or lift with moisture
Cost
More than PVC; finishing labor adds to it
Veneer is not on our color picker, so this one shows real species. See our TFL vs Wood Veneer, Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
13Solid wood edge, cut open NEW
Solid wood edge (lipping)
Solid wood edge (lipping)
Made of
A strip of solid wood glued to the edge and planed flush
Shape
Thick enough to round over, chamfer or profile
Repair
Can be sanded, filled and refinished for years
Watch for
Moves a little with humidity; must be finished
Cost
The most labor of any edge
Shown on veneer plywood, where solid edges are most common. See our TFL vs Solid Wood, Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
14Edgeband glue lines: EVA, PUR, zero-joint NEW
Edgeband glue line
Edgeband glue line
Why it matters
Most band failures start at the glue line, not the band
EVA
Hot melt; cheap and fast, softens with high heat
PUR
Cures for good; holds up better to heat and water
Zero-joint
No glue line at all; the band's own layer is melted on
Check
Look and feel along the joint; a clean line is a good bond
Our Equipment page: “Edgeband bond lines get visual and tactile inspection — that is where cheap suppliers fail first.” See our Equipment, Door Styles pages. Drawn to scale on a 3/4″ panel. Hover or tap the panel to pull the band off.
15How an edgebander works NEW
Edgebander, step by step
Cut through the edge
Premill: two spinning diamond cutters take 1 mm off the edge, so it is fresh, straight and free of saw chips before any glue goes on.
Glue: a hot roller spreads melted glue on the fresh-milled edge.
Band + press: 1 mm edgeband comes off the roll and rollers squeeze it onto the glue. It puts back the 1 mm the premill took, so the door ends up at its exact size. The band is left a little wider than the panel.
End trim: saws drop and cut the band off square at the front and back of the panel.
Flush trim: cutters above and below trim the extra band flush with both faces.
Round + scrape: the band's corners get a small radius, then scrapers and a buffing wheel clean off the glue bead.
Tap a step to jump to it, or drag the slider. Panel thickness is drawn bigger so you can see the band. TFL Door bands every door on a CNC Fuse 8 edgebander; see our Equipment page.
16Edgebander control screen: tap the real buttons NEW
Edgebander, run from its own screenTap the screen. The machine follows.
0 panels run
EDGETECH
Track
Spray
Pre-mill 1
Pre-mill 2
Front end-cutting
Rear end-cutting
Rough trim
Fine trim
Board width≤70mmScraping 1
Board width>70mmScraping 2
Corner/trim
UP flat scraping
Down flat scraping
Clean
Buffing
Cut through the edge
Panel ends, from above
What comes out with these buttons
The screen is copied from the touch panel on the edgebander in our shop, with the stations set the way they were in the photo. Red border means on, green means off. Buttons that open other pages on the real machine only show a note here. See our Equipment page.