Here is a range of the most frequently asked questions which customers put to us when they ring us. If you have any suggestions for other information, we would be grateful to receive them, if you wish to send them in through the contact us section of this website. 

What size do your rolls of unglued tape come in?

We buy unglued edgebanding in many different size rolls. This depends on the amount made in the manufacturing process. Melamine can come in anything from 150 to 600 metre rolls. We usually say that the average length is 450 metres, and will presume that is the size you require if you order multiples of rolls, but what we can offer you depends entirely on what we have in stock at the time of the enquiry. Veneer comes in smaller rolls, usually between 150 to 300 metres, and there is usually more choice of roll size. The size of pvc rolls depends on the thickness. 0.4mm pvc mostly comes in 300 metre rolls, and 2mm in 150 metre rolls.

Do you have swatches of your veneer tapes?

Veneer, being a natural product, is subject to changes in colour due to the effects of light over time, especially in its unfinished state. We do not provide swatches of veneers as a result of this. There is a danger that a sample swatch, after being in circulation for a couple of years will be taken as a representation of what we can supply from stock, while some of the fingers on it will have faded considerably. We will supply finger samples of particular veneers on request.

Can you supply us with a bespoke colour that is not in your standard range?

Yes, we can get almost any colour or pattern matched. The amount we have to get manufactured varies depending on whether it is pvc or melamine you require, and where we source it. However, it will be in minimum manufacturing quantities, which can run to many thousands of metres in 22mm. We will often require you take the whole production quantity, especially if it is a custom colour. Please give us a call on 01392 217635 and we should be able to give you a fair estimate of the cost, lead-time etc, within a day or so.

What materials are your plastic tapes made out of?

We started our plastic range entirely stocking PVC tapes. However, extensive market research showed us that ABS tape was in demand more and more, as its environmetally friendly properties were becoming known.  At the moment we are in the process of changing our 2mm range from PVC to ABS (please ask at time of ordering which is available). The 0.4mm range is still comprised of PVC tapes, but we plan to start changing that to ABS as soon as possible.

If we require samples of tape for testing purposes, how much will you send us?

Our normal sample rolls are 5 metres of preglued and 10 metres of unglued material.

Do you sell exact matches to boards or doors?

No, we match as close as we can to the boards, but would never claim that you could lay our tape on a board and it will disappear into it. We think a better method is to offer an edging to the edge of a board rather than the face. This is, after all, how it will appear in the finished product. One of the troubles with a lot of contemporary boards is that they are often ‘planked’, and producing an edgebanding to match all the different shades and colours on a board is often impossible. We operate a grading system to guide customers. Grade 1 would be considered to be a match which most people would be happy using. Grade 2 is a fairly good match, but we prefer the customer to approve it before we sell it to them. If matches are not up to this standard we do not recommend colours to our customers.

What is the latest I can place an order and get it delivered the next day?

We normally set a cut-off time of one o’clock for orders placed for delivery the following day. We do not place exact deadlines on this, however, and if we are not busy we will carry on taking orders as long as we can pack and dispatch orders before the carrier arrives. On the other hand, if we are very busy, or there is a problem with stock, we cannot absolutely guarantee to dispatch the same day an order is placed – but we will try our best.

Do you sell preglued pvc tapes?

SMC has now installed a new machine for pre-glueing thick plastic tapes. This completes the final phase of our plan to market a range of pre-glued plastic tapes. As of the time of writing this (February 2008) we are offering any plastic edging we keep in stock in pre-glued form.

Whereas once we demanded rather high minimum quantities for the pregluing of 0.4mm PVC, you can now buy as little as one roll. Rolls are nominally 50 metres in length.

The 2mm PVC and ABS tapes are not kept on the shelf pre-glued, but we can glue up in one unglued roll at a time. Rolls are nominally 150 metres long, and we will supply this to you in three 50 metre rolls.

For small producers who do not have the machinery for trimming and finishing thick plastic edgings we have a new product available. Please see the Download Newsletter as a PDF tab on the homepage of this website.