Edging Question....

[Mike Langford]

I've heard it said that the only stupid questions are the un-asked ones....but this is probably gonna be some pretty stupid asked ones....:o

Over the years I've built several bookcases and face frames, but never gave much thought to the wood movement of the edging applied to plywood shelves or on face frames applied to plywood.

I ripped four strips roughly 1"x1"x6' from a 1"x4"x6' piece of poplar...

I'm edging all around plywood to make lids for two toy boxes and was wondering which way to turn the edging!? (see pics) (I will also be routing a table top profile in the edging)

160127

160125

160126

Should I....(here come the stupid question(s) ;))
Place the edging as in pic#1? (original edge of board facing up)
OR....
Place the edging as in pic#2? (original edge facing out)

I lean toward doing it as in pic#2...but I just can't get my head around the wood movement part....Which way will the edging move????:confused: or does it really matter?

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[Jim Rimmer]

I always put it face grain up which in your case, I think, would be original edge out. IMHO, you don't want edge grain up. Face grain up and grain orientation for the best match.

[Jim Heffner]

I feel like this...the best looking grain of the edging piece should be faced
outward/ upward to the customer...they will always like it better.

Most of the time, edge banding is only used to hide the ugly edge of plywood
or some other material, it really does little for structural integrity of the piece
except to make it look better.

[Joe Chritz]

Either is plenty strong but I almost always use the edge grain to the front. Only because if it was a solid shelf that is what you would see.

One glue up is face grain and one is edge grain. Neither adds much in the way of support so I generally use a piece that is about 1/4" thick. Sorta like really thick edge banding tape.

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

Either way should work fine. The amount of wood movement on a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 poplar isn't going to be much and shouldn't make any difference either way it is mounted. I would go for the best appearance and forget it.

Think of it this way. If the tree from which the piece came had entered the saw rotated 90 degrees from the direction in which it was actually cut, which side of your cut piece would have been the face grain??

[Chris Padilla]

I agree w/Lee...do whatever looks/works best.

However, I disagree w/Joe...hardwood edge-banding can add to the structural integrity of a shelf. It is one of the many ways to beef up a shelf span to prevent/minimize sagging.

[Mike Langford]

Thanks for the replies guys....SMC is great!

I'm going to edge the ply like pic#2....I just want to minimize the amount of movement so that after I've trimmed and profiled the edging, there wouldn't be a ridge or lip around the top.

Thanks again for the help!