FAQs
Here is a range of the most frequently asked questions which customers ask when they ring us. If you have any suggestions for other information, we would be grateful to receive them. Please call us, or if you wish to, send them in through the contact us section of this website.
What size do your rolls of 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 plastic rolls depends on the thickness. 0.4mm comes in 300 metre rolls, 1mm in 120 metre rolls, and 2mm in 150 metre rolls.
Preglued melamines come in either 50 metre or 100 metre rolls. Preglued veneers come in 50 metre rolls. See opposite for information on preglued plastics.
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 plastic or melamine you require, and where we source it. A lot of the time we can get matches 'off the shelf' from another supplier, often in very small quantities. However, in some cases, where the pattern you want has not been manufactured yet it will be in minimum manufacturing quantities, which can run to many thousands of metres. 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 environmentally friendly properties were becoming known. We are almost finished changing both our 0.4mm and 2mm ranges from PVC to ABS, and our new 1mm range is entirely ABS from the start. Please ask at time of ordering which is available.
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. This obviously depends on what you are looking for. We do not keep small sample rolls ready-made. See above for the roll sizes of unglued material we supply. The smallest amount of preglued we sell is a 50 metre roll. Please do not ask to buy rolls smaller than these minimums, as it is not our policy to sell in such small amounts.
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 on the finished product. A problem for edgebanding with a lot of contemporary boards is that they are often ‘planked’, with a wide variation in colour and texture across the width, 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, which we prefer the customer to approve it before selling it to them. There is no Grade 3 - If matches are not up to Grade 2 we do not recommend tapes 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 two o’clock for orders placed for delivery the following day. We do not place exact deadlines on this, however, if we are not too busy we will carry on taking orders as long as we can pack and dispatch orders before the carrier arrives, which is around four o'clock. 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 plastic tapes?
Yes, SMC has the facility to preglue all thicknesses of plastic tapes, whether PVC or ABS. Not only do we sell SMC tapes preglued, but we will glue special bespoke tapes and also any tapes you need preglueing. Please contact us for details and prices.
We sell 0.4mm PVC and ABS in 50 metre rolls preglued. The 2mm PVC and ABS tapes are not kept on the shelf pre-glued, but we will glue up one unglued roll at a time. Rolls are nominally 150 metres long, and we can supply this to you in three 50 metre rolls if you wish.
The market for preglued plastic edgings is still in its infancy. SMC Wholesale are in the forefront of this market development. Please call us to discuss your needs as we can do this only with your help.
If you have never used thicker plastic edgings before it is advisable to consider how you are going to trim and finish them before deciding to use them. Thick edgings cannot be trimmed in the same way as thin edgings, and once trimmed will need to be finished - both to add a bevel, and then to polish it. The finish is important because thick edgings present an edge of their own, whereas thin edgings' edges are almost invisible.
Why do you keep writing about plastic / ABS / PVC?
In the attempt to be precise the text in this website and the answers on this page are filled with the three terms above. This is because we supply both PVC and ABS, and call them generically 'plastic'. It is hoped in the future to drop this distinction, and just refer to ABS, as we will not supply any significant quantity of PVC. This is a while away though, as it looks like PVC will be around for a few years yet.
Extensive range of widths, thicknesses and materials • Pre-Glued • Un-glued • Quality service • Fast delivery
1 Budlake Units, Budlake Road, Marsh Barton, Exeter EX2 8PY
SMC Wholesale is the trading name of The Edging Company Limited | Registered Office: 3 Southernhay West, Exeter, Devon, EX1 1JG
The Edging Company Limited is a company registered in England: Company Number 3624714
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