cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

[Mbeezo]

Have a client who needs about 4 drawer fronts and 4 doors made for a cabinet that he has in his house. The other cabinet doors are oak veneer plywood that were painted. They are not original to the house which is about 120 years old but it is a pretty nice looking cabinet and they want to keep it. Just needs the drawer fronts and doors to complete it.

My question is they looked at the Home Depot oak veneer plywood and think it looks fine. I have not worked with the stuff so wondering if all plywood is created equal and will be better than something from a cabinet shop supplier. What you think?

Second question is the house is currently under a lot of construction and they are not running the AC at this time. So the inside of the house is the same temp-100 degrees for the last 8 or so days but with low humidity. Wondering about warping issues with the plywood. I ask this because my main exposure to plywood is things like CDX which can be almost pretzel like at times.

Last question is cutting the stuff and shaping the edges. I own no festool stuff so that system for crosscutting and not getting chipping is not going to happen. But do have a good homemade rail system that I have used and seems to mimimize chipping. Actually cutting I am not as worried about. It is the routing. The doors that they do have are a simple roundover on all the edges. Wondering about that detail and chipping. Do not know if I have ever ran a router on a piece of plywood. Since to doors do get painted I think I could use some filler on some chips but would like to avoid as many as possible.

Help would be appreciated.

Oh by the way, Happy 4th of July.

[Allan Edwards]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

Second question is the house is currently under a lot of construction and they are not running the AC at this time. So the inside of the house is the same temp-100 degrees for the last 8 or so days but with low humidity. Wondering about warping issues with the plywood. I ask this because my main exposure to plywood is things like CDX which can be almost pretzel like at times.

We currently have a couple of new homes with temporary AC's running, in order to dry out the house. I really don't think it is an issue for plywood, we do it for the hardwood flooring and moldings and attempt to just dry out the house.

[tjbnwi]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

Check the veneer, make sure it appears sound.

The plywood core will have some voids. Most likely not a major issue for what you're doing. If you find a large void at the edge, you should fill that with paste type epoxy. If you have enough left on the sheet, you may be able to harvest out a piece with better edges.

All things being equal, the lack of AC should not affect much.

Use a new router bit. You should not have any problems. I recommend climb cutting with the router to minimize chipping, but I don't want to get yelled at by someone else.

Use bondo to fill the edges, (MiniWax Wood Filler with the snap on plastic lid over a metal can is brown bondo) it dries quickly and sands easily.

Tom

[BOC Contracting]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

Beez,

You would get a more stable sheet good if you go to a plywood supplier and get a sheet with an MDF core.

As for the HD ply - check to see if it is a Columbia product - it is generally pretty good for the money and "formadehyde free." It is not the highest grade and is generally a straight 4'x8' sheet instead of the 49"x97" that you often get at a plywood supplier. But again, not bad at all for the money. As long as the doors aren't too big, I think it would be fine for what you're doing.

With regard to the roundover, are you going to edgeband and then put a very small roundover? You could also apply a solid edging if you need a bigger radius, but this will take more time are require a lot of clamps...

You probably know this, but you can further minimize chipout by pre-taping your cut lines with blue tape - especially on the cross cuts.

Best,
Ben

[kaisermj]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

Make sure you use a good quality, new blade in your saw. There are blades specifically for veneers but not a lot for circular saws and you won't find one at the local big box store. I know Forrest has one and I think Freud has one in their "industrial" line of blades. You can score with a circular saw. Basically raise the blade so that it just nicks the veneer and run it backwards across the piece. Obviously you need to watch your fingers, make sure the saw is well supported, and ensure you're tight against your edge guide. You defeat the purpose of scoring if your scoring cut isn't dead on with your finish cut. Then drop the blade and make the cut normally. Better would be to use a table saw with the high ATB blade.

Tape helps too. Not to split hairs but I've found the green 3M/Scotch tape works slightly better than the blue. I think the green has a slightly higher adhesion level. If you can't find the green stuff (or don't want to look for it) use the "regular" blue tape, not the orange/blue (which is for delicate surfaces).

An MDF core would probably be better so you don't have to worry about any voids or the plys telegraphing through the paint. You'll probably pay more for the material but you'll save a little time.

[dgbldr]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

The oak ply at HD is not furniture/cabinet grade (even when it's Columbia) but is reasonably priced and would probably do for your project. It's uneven in thickness, has poor surface finish, lots of voids in the core and the faces are extremely thin.

[BThomas]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

If you are worried about the router chipping out - run the router backwards ( away from he work piece) first. Usually a slight pass is enough to eliminate any chipping when you run the router into the work.
Bill T

[Mbeezo]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

just looking to use something similiar to what was used when this cabinet was installed. It is plywood and on a couple of the doors you can see a little of the plys sticking out in the paint. Not really bad at all. Voids I would fill. The cross cutting was my biggest worry.
I do not have the sizes but I am thinking most are around 2 ft wide by 30 inches tall or so. Not huge but still like to know what I am doing. I know it is not true of myself but I do prefer to look like one of the smarter guys in the room when discussing projects. This place helps me do that.

Had planned on a new saw blade and router bit. The roundover is maybe at the most 1/4 inch, just something to kind of ease the edges.

[Bruce B]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

It will also help by cutting with the good face down. Just need to be careful of what you are setting the plywood on.

I have also have had good luck using the Elmers carpenters wood filler. I add a very small amount of water to it (especially if it is from a previously opened container). Work quickly and make a final smoothing pass with a flexible blade putty knife. I have even used this tecnique on birch plywood raised panels cut on the table saw. It sands easily and finishes beautifully.

[tjbnwi]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

If the corner break is tiny, you have the option of sanding it in. These work well;

http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Fas...der-3p2472.htm

Tom

[Eastbuild]

Re: cabinet grade oak veneer plywood questions

If you are not going with a solid wood laminated I would use a medx core over the mdo only because it is in the kitchen just make sure you butter the glue on both sides. if you do go with the HD ply like tj said whatch out for the foids and fill. Make sure you let your solid stock acclimate. using any of the three panel stock after you band put them on a flat surface with weight or claps. any stock with a heavy crown do not use. I have had bad luck with the banding method on sheet material if not laid flat and clamped or weight. Good luck with this