Is the Comatic BR600 Max a Festool Conturo Killer?

Unboxing, setting up and testing the Comatic BR600 Max portable contour Edgebander. Full disclosure: I do not own and have never used the Festool Conturo, but I am a Festool user and imagine the Conturo to be a top notch machine.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Unboxing
01:20 Setup
03:24 Power Up & Heatup Time
05:45 Testing
13:21 Conclusions
Links (non-affiliate) to some tools mentioned in this video:
www.shopgearinc.com/products/...
www.festoolusa.com/products/e...
www.virutextools.com/manual-e...
www.fastcap.com/product/trimmers
www.edgesupplyusa.com/product...

[@Shopgearinc]

Thanks so much for sharing David. It was a pleasure meeting you at AWFS. We have enjoyed seeing this edgebander help woodworkers like yourself for the 11 years we have been offering it. Feel free to reach out if you need support or if you have any questions. BTW, It looks like we have someone new to do the edgebander demos at future trade shows.😉 Thanks again!

[@FineLineJoinery]

Ha ha! Sign me up!

[@kiwdwks]

Thanks for the awesome video...looks like a great new shop tool addition! Happy banding...

[@FineLineJoinery]

Thanks for watching!

[@rogerrushing6790]

Looking good Mr.Y, Roger. Good sound and dialog. Nice job

[@FineLineJoinery]

Ha ha! Thanks for the support Roger!

[@stonecitywoodworks]

Great video! Thanks for showing us how well this machine can work. Great instructions, I have been looking at something along these lines for a while now, and Im the same, Festool is great when you need it, but price plays a factor... so this looks like a great alternative!

[@FineLineJoinery]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

[@premiermartialarts1067]

Thank you! Great video

[@FineLineJoinery]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@johannvisser217]

If got the BR500, previous model, using it for about 5 years now. Very usefull, the more you use it the easier it gets. Much cheaper than the Festool

[@FineLineJoinery]

Glad to hear it's holding up well over the years! Thanks for watching and your comment!

[@extremewoodworker]

Nice review. I had recommended looking at this unit to one of my viewers as a Conturo alternative. I have the Conturo and the cost of the glue pucks make it expensive to operate. I think the biggest downside to the Conturo is it's limitation to 1mm thick solid wood edgebanding. I tried 2mm thick Sapele and it just cracks and breaks. It handles up to 3mm PVC just fine. The fence plate on the Conturo looks quite a bit stouter and requires no adjustments though. Hindsight is 20/20 but if I had to do it over, I would probably go for the CoMatic. Steve

[@FineLineJoinery]

Yeah, I was pretty stoked that the Comatic did such a nice job with 2mm+ wood strips. Kind of surprised to hear that the Conturo couldn't! Thanks for the feedback!

[@stingk5295]

Awesome machine.

[@FineLineJoinery]

Yeah! So far , so good!

[@imakedookie]

i like the idea of a portable option, but the weight of that thing must be substantial... are there any assists that might help a small shop make the most of this machine?

[@FineLineJoinery]

The specs say 18 lbs, but it doesn't feel heavy while using. Once you start banding, the weight is mostly on the workpiece. They do have a small table available so it can be used as a benchtop tool. I've though about making one myself, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Follow the link in the description to Shop Gear to see the accessories available. Thanks for watching the video and your question!

[@tpaulfelder1]

I have used both types and found the Conturo vastly superior. Lot of faffing about setting that up. The Festool worked straight out of the box. That is also a PITA to clean up. The Festool pucks might be expensive but there is no waste using them and the machine stays very clean. The Conturo alows one to get the tape into parking postion so the machine can be lined up before engaging the feed.Festool also have a basket to hold the tape in position to feed into the machine. If you're running a long edge it keeps the tape off the floor and out from under your feet We also have a shop edge bander but the Conturo is excellent for curves. Festool make an end trimmer which would handle 2mm thick plastic edgeing. None of the other types would do this. Pay the price and cry once

[@FineLineJoinery]

The Comatic also has a tray available for holding longer lengths of banding. I didn't have it when I recorded this because it was backordered. Just received it last week. I have no doubt the Conturo is a great machine! I do love the Festools that I own. As with every tool purchase, one needs to weigh budget and needs against cost. If I did a lot of contour stuff, I would might opt for the Conturo, but for occasional use, I find this to definitely be a viable alternative. Thanks for watching and your comments!

[@magicman9486]

just bought a brand new edgebander for $209. I should make a video when i get it..

[@FineLineJoinery]

Yeah! Come back and let me know if you do!

[@bjrnulstrup5420]

Nice video do you know if its the same as the felder one its also the one tool i dont own from festool 😊

[@FineLineJoinery]

Didn't know Felder made a portable edge bander til now. Just looked it up and it does look pretty similar. Don't know if it's the same though... Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching!

[@DanaFarmer]

looks like a sweet machine. I like that you can use regular glue pellets. how hard is it to change out to a different color glue?

[@FineLineJoinery]

Really good question! The rep at AWFS said it wasn't difficult. Just use the standard "leave a couple of sticks in the gluepot and let it cool down" method. Obviously, I have not tried it yet...

[@Joyjoiner]

Great tip about removing the glue with the 2sticks i tried it and it worked great. On another note I have an older wegoma pm2000 with a set temperature i have a problem with the glue rising up and contaminating the drive chain, I'm using the recommended glue and not overfilling the glue pot it's a real pain any help from you or your subscribers would be appreciated Regards Liam

[@horsejumpride8423]

I can't find reviews online about this product.

[@FineLineJoinery]

That's exactly what I experienced when I first considered purchasing it at AWFS. After chatting a bit in person with the reps from ShopGear (distributer) and Comatic (rep travelled to Vegas from Taiwan) and getting to try it out there, I decided to give it a shot. The lack of reviews is the main reason I made this video. Everything expressed in the video are my honest opinions. They did not know I was making the video until I sent them an email after publishing it here. Just as a point of reference, I would give the BR600 4 out of 5 stars. I didn't really like the angle adjustment for banding beveled cuts. Everything else was great! Thanks for watching and your comment!

[@almostalphas]

What was the Festool tool you used @8:44? I think you just called it the Festool trimmer.

[@FineLineJoinery]

It's a Festool MFK 700. Here is a link to it on Festool's website: www.festoolusa.com/products/routing/edge-routers/576239---mfk-700-eq-set-us#Overview Thanks so much for watching the video!

[@almostalphas]

@@FineLineJoinery Thanks for the quick response. I thought it may have been that router. So the downside is that you have to do each side separately (and the cost of that router) vs the contura and similar products doing both sides in a single pass? Now that I think about it, could a flush trim router bit just be used on a small handheld router held along the edge banding face? I'm still pretty new to woodworking and looking to tackle some cabinets for my basement. So apologies for the dumb questions.

[@almostalphas]

Found a video that shows a way to do this with a router I already have. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@FineLineJoinery]

@@almostalphas Yeah, the MFK 700 is pretty much a trim router on steroids. I got it for the express purpose of flush trimming solid applied edges, not necessarily edgebanding and that's what I keep it setup for. I'm pretty sure the Conturo is the same as the Comatic, in that you still need another method to flush trim after the banding is applied. No apologies for questions, bro, as far as I'm concerned, that's what KZbin U is all about! Glad you got something from the video!

[@rorymccann9198]

i have the same machine ,,,one issue i have is the glue is getting on the face side of the edging ,,,a pain to clean off ,,, after usage do you do a good clean of the machine

[@FineLineJoinery]

I don't remember where it is offhand, but there is a glue spread rate adjustment...

[@rorymccann9198]

I would need to have a play with the settings,,, the edging holds well,, I purchased the edged bander for some curved work I done and can't fault it.. Half the price of the festool

[@rorymccann9198]

was trying the edgebander again today ,,played with the the glue setting which seems to be fine now with 2mm edging , i also tried 0.8mm edging which didnt work so well ,glue was getting everywhere no matter what setting i tried ,it seems to work better with thicker material.

[@FineLineJoinery]

@@rorymccann9198 The prefinished EB I was using in the video is only 0.5mm and did fine. Maybe lowering the temp would make the glue a little less viscous? I don't know... Have you tried contacting the folks at ShopGear? They may be able to help.

[@rorymccann9198]

@@FineLineJoinery thanks for the reply, tomorrow I will lower the temperature abd have another go,

[@denthefirst]

I bought the complete set of the edge bander 10 years ago in Germany for about 1100€ now i am living in Vietnam. And they sell it separate. The Edge bander cost here about 160€ without shipping cost😢😂😂😂😂😂

[@Z-add]

Looks exactly like felder forka 200 eco plus. Have you looked at virutex peb250

[@FineLineJoinery]

I looked briefly at the Virutex. It is at a similar price point. My first automatic edgebander was a Virutex EB25 or something like that. It was a hot air machine. I had some issues with it and found customer service at that time to be less than cordial. I did eventually get the help and parts that I needed, but it just left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, so I decided to give this a try. So far, so good! I actually didn't know about the Felder. You're right. Looks pretty similar. Funny, cuz my main edgebander is a Felder.

[@donalexey]

It is the same machine.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

Wow, what a faff! In the UK, it would have no use- in quality cabinetry any timber you could see the edge of would be solid hardwood. If it was painted, it would not be wood.

[@FineLineJoinery]

Not sure what a faff is, but I’m thinking it’s probably not a compliment. Please accept my apology for offending your sense of quality. Hopefully, I’ll eventually learn the RIGHT way to build cabinets, but for now, I’ll just have to keep hacking my through it. (…can’t help but wonder why you clicked on a video about edgebanders…) Thanks for the comment!

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

@@FineLineJoinery I clicked to find out what it was- never seen anything like it. Faff is complex effort. I was not being critical, just commenting on the difference in different markets. Ply internals seem common in the US, but I have never seen them used (commercially) is the UK. Might happen, but far from common. I am sure they are entirely serviceable, and I have used ply myself for internals- in my workshop.

[@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1]

The tear out is that fastcap tool. Take it apart and do one side at a time, or better yet, just use a file & rip it off clean in a few swipes. Working way too hard with that fastcap thing. Edit: the fastcap will do just as good as that yellow jobby if you take it apart & make two tools out of one with it.

[@FineLineJoinery]

Yeah, I have 2 Fastcap trimmers. One as is with both blades and the other that I removed one blade from. I use the single bladed one when I anticipate grain direction problems. The reason it looks like I'm working so hard here is that I would normally move the board to my vise so it would be held vertical to do the trimming. For the video, I left it laying flat because I was too lazy to move my camera. That made the trimming feel a little awkward to me. Thanks for watching!

[@jasonhughes6994]

I have one they're brilliant, but u need a table for small parts

[@FineLineJoinery]

Yeah, do you have the accessory table? I figured I would build one if the need arises. They also have a nice vacuum mounting fixture for holding large parts that need to be banded all the way around...

[@jasonhughes6994]

No, at present, I'm making my own.

[@FineLineJoinery]

@@jasonhughes6994 Cool! You should post a photo or video link here when it's done!

[@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1]

Where is it made? China or somewhere else?

[@FineLineJoinery]

Made in Taiwan, not China. I support American made when I can, but I am also happy to support the autonomous Democracy of a country like Taiwan.

[@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1]

@@FineLineJoinery Indeed, Taiwan is alright. Worried about what will happen to them when we can make our own chips, some donkeys have said we will be done over there once that happens, which is crazy to me. Pushed me right back to Trump 2024.

[@donalexey]

Why is this machine $800 on ebay and $1600+ or even $2400 from US or from Felder? Not even comparing to Chinese copies whose are from $150+

[@FineLineJoinery]

I can't answer that. All I can say is that I am happy with what I got for my money. Cheers!

[@JuanMartinez-qp6yg]

Nice vid my friend , where I work we use the festool now but before we did use the one on you video unfortunately it quits, well really it just leaks glue so bad, they said that they can't find a dealer to repair it, who knows I use it mainly to .5mm ,1 mm and 3mm PVC and wood i usually use the temperature to 120 for .5mm and 160 for 3mm, i f you know any place to see if we can send the machine to be repaired it will be much appreciated the furniture place i work is in NC... By the way we used jowat glue pellets if I'm not mistaken, thanks a lot man and keep doing this awesome content!!🤙🏽🤟🏽

[@FineLineJoinery]

@@JuanMartinez-qp6yg Did you try contacting ShopGear in Utah? There's a link to their website in the description above. I hope you can get it worked out. Thanks for watching and your comment! Glad you enjoyed!

[@yangangzhang886]

made in china？

[@FineLineJoinery]

Made in Taiwan. Thanks for watching!