1st time veneering. Help!

[Chris Yarish]

Doing my first veneer job...and have a question.

It's a coffee table and the top is veneered cherry plywood and the bottom will be the same. I want to give a blocky/chunky modern look, so I want it to be about 4" thick. IN separating the top and the bottom surfaces, I need to put either MDF or plywood in to give the desired appearance. I will then veneer the sides to match the existing top veneer.

Question: Should I use MDF or plywood on the sides to build thickness....and does veneer/veneer adhesive adhere very well to the layered sides/edges of plywood?

Thanks

[Doug Shepard]

Unless you use thicker self made veneer the joint lines of the layering might telegraph though the veneer. Plus you won't get an exact match to your top and bottom. If it were me, I'd use the same cherry ply on the edges and bevel/spline the sides to the top and bottom. Then use MDF or cheaper ply spacers in the interior for support - maybe even a torsion box type design.

[Chris Yarish]

So, you mean 45 the sides of the top and bottom edges, do the same to the sides sides (out of the same cherry plywood) then spline them together?

I was hoping to avoid having to do anything like that because my tablesaw is not able to do the angles very accurately (it's a dinosaur).
The more square sides the better....and I want continuity of grain...so no edgebanding

[Doug Shepard]

So, you mean 45 the sides of the top and bottom edges, do the same to the sides sides (out of the same cherry plywood) then spline them together?

I was hoping to avoid having to do anything like that because my tablesaw is not able to do the angles very accurately (it's a dinosaur).
The more square sides the better....and I want continuity of grain...so no edgebanding

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. But if your saw isn't up to it, maybe it's not the best choice for your project. If you have a router table though, you could do the 45's with a chamfer bit.

[Chris Yarish]

...and with the chamfer bit....will there be any concern about chipping the cherry veneer?
If so, how can I prevent/mitigate the effects.

I also do not have enough cherry plywood to the the edges as you have outlined....but I have the 1/32nd cherry veneer. I have 3/4" maple plywood and 3/8 and 3/4" MDF. What would be a better wood to chamfer and then veneer?

[James A. Wolfe]

If you make your top 4" thick by layering MDF, the thing will weigh a ton. I agree with Doug, build a torsion box using the cherry ply for the faces and make the grid from the MDF. If you're good with a router, use a 3/8" uptwist spiral straight cutting bit and work from the backside of the cherry plywood. Rout away all but the top (cherry) veneer for a width just slightly more than the thickness of the sides. Glue up the sides to the top and rout the edge with a 22.5º bevel bit taking care not to expose the inner plies. I'll attach a drawing.
Jim

[tod evans]

i dissagree with this whole approach. no matter what you do with veneered plywood for the top the edge will be so fragile you`re liable to ruin the table the first time it gets bumped. veneer is a good choice to show off pretty woods but veneered ply is neither pretty or tough. i would start by framing a piece of mdf or baltic birch with solid cherry 4" wide so as to give the table the look of deapth you desire then either buy or resaw veneer to press onto your substraight. after pressing you can then safely break the edge without worry of showing the core, you could even route a profile if you choose......02 tod