Lightweight Plywood Replacement?

[Derek Arita]

So...I built a case for my Leigh Jig, but it sure is heavy and I'm not getting any younger. I'm wondering if there's an alternative to 1/2" plywood that would be strong enough to do the job, but lighter.

[Ralph Okonieski]

My case has a frame with hardboard sides, top and bottom. Sturdy but fairly light.

[Derek Arita]

Just read about a corrugated plastic called Coroplast. Wonder if that could be used?

[Jim Becker]

Well...you could go the true road-case route with all the aluminum channels, etc., and that typically uses ~1/4" material...assuming you will enjoy working with a gazillion pop rivets. :) :D

[Bob Michaels1]

Coroplast is usually used for signs.

[Martin Wasner]

Make a mould and lay one up out of carbon fibre....

[Doug Garson]

Check out stitch and glue kayak construction, Pygmy Boats for example. You could use door skins for the plywood and probably get away with just glassing the outside and you will have a surprisingly strong case. Lot cheaper than carbon fibre. Here's a quote from their website" The combination of wood fiberglass and epoxy creates a composite that makes Pygmy boats stronger and about 30% lighter than a fiberglass boat."

[Bradley Gray]

Make the front and sides 1/2"material, glue on 1/4"ply top and bottom, saw off the lid on table saw.

[Bill Adamsen]

The cost of Nomex or Nidacore would likely cause you to blanch - it does me! Use relatively lightweight ply of the minimum appropriate thickness for your specific surface, and glue up panels (torsion box style) with white pine or other lightweight secondary wood. The result is a super strong and significantly lighter structure that retains its shape. Depending on final use, I often finish off with a layer of easy to clean (though slippery) plastic laminate (Formica).

[Charles Lent]

I've made many boxes for my tools (but not yet for my Leigh jigs) out of 1/2" and 1/4" Baltic Birch ply as Bradley suggests, and they are holding up very well. I box jointed the corners and then just glued the 1/4" top and bottom on. Then I cut the lid off and added a piano hinge, handles and a latch. I have added partitions and stops inside to keep the tools in place, also out of thin Baltic Birch glued in place. They have proven to be very strong and light in weight. I've also made a bunch of tote bins from 3/8" Baltic Birch that interlock together when I stack them. I use these mostly for staging small scroll saw work. I use my I-Box jig on my Unisaw with the Freud SBOX8 blade set to make the box joints. I was told many years ago that "you can't make box joints in plywood", but I have no trouble at all making them and I think they turn out very well. They don't weigh much either, only a few pounds each.

Charley

[Jamie Buxton]

There is balsa plywood. For instance http://www.edensaw.com/MainSite/Store1/StoreProducts/ProductList/1604
On the downside, balsa is so soft that maybe it wouldn't be satisfactory for a case which gets banged around the shop a lot. You might want to put some stronger face veneer on it.

[scott vroom]

Western red cedar and alder are both considerably lighter weight than plywood. I believe 1/2" cedar would weight less than half the weight of 1/2" plywood....you can look it up easily on the web.

[Derek Arita]

Charles, I decided to to something like what you did. I'm going to use 1/4" ply, since I have scraps of it. I'll finger joint the sides, then probably inset the top and bottom, for a little extra strength. I may reinforce things from the inside, but the box joints should hold pretty well. With the handles on the sides, will the 1/4" flex too much? Don't know, but I'm going to lip the inside of the joint between bottom and lid and hopefully that will help to keep things solid.
We'll see. What do you think?

[Charles Lent]

Derek,

If you go with 1/4" sides, plan on doubling the thickness where the hardware attaches and along the edges of the box and lid openings. You will need it for strength and rigidity in those places. Doubling the thickness of the sides where the top and bottom attach will provide more surface for the glue joint too. If you try to inset the top and bottom into 1/4" sides there will be no strength at all in the joint. The modern Titebond glues are stronger than the wood, so I just glue the top and bottom on, but provide at least a 3/8" wide surface at the attachment point. Make sure you build the box big enough to allow for doubling the thickness at these points. Don't make the box to just barely fit the tool that it is for,

I also install partitions and spacers in my tool boxes to keep the tool positioned properly, and even to give all the accessory pieces a secure place to reside. I even provide a pocket in the lid for the manual. I use many different thicknesses of Baltic Birch for these, depending on their use. Keep it to a minimum and it won't add much weight.

Charley

[Vince Shriver]

Charles, if the rest of your shop is as well thought-out and neat as those tool containers, it must be something to aspire to. Very cool.

[Mason Hanson]

I would recommend coroplast. It's very durable.

[Derek Arita]

I would recommend coroplast. It's very durable.
Mason, have you worked with Coroplast? What is it like to work with?

[Jim Becker]

Coroplast (the same stuff that many temporary signs are made of, such as for political stuff, FSBO, etc) is great as a filler surface, but it's not going to be good for structural support. It would require a good frame for the intended purpose here as long as stuff isn't going to be stacked on top.

[Alan Schwabacher]

If the problem is lugging the whole thing around, another option is to make a storage cabinet you don't carry around. The jig might need only a cleat for attachment to the work surface, and all the accessories could be stored available for use.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I make a lot of things for the equestrian community using 1/4" bb that I finger joint the corners. For the bottom re-inforce it with 1/2" solid wood to give more gluing surface. It will be plenty strong and nice and light. As suggested you could also do flight case construction but then you are dealing with pop rivets and extrusions. Fancy, but more work if your not set up for it. I buy rivets 4000 at a time.

[Phil Mueller]

Nice looking boxes, Charley. Well done!

[Derek Arita]

Charlie, man those are nice boxes. I may steal the idea of the brass corners. If I use lightweight stuff, it'll help reinforce the structure. Thanks.

[Jim Dwight]

I've made tool boxes of 6mm luan plywood with 3/4x3/4 softwood in the corners. They are plenty strong and relatively light. I put in softwood blocks where I want to attach the hinges and handle.

Also remember that some solid wood is lighter than plywood. Softwood certainly is. So a case of 1/2 softwood would be lighter than one of 1/2 plywood.