Do you absolutely need to edge band the back side of a plywood shelf?

[Don Morris]

If you poly all the sides, including the side against the back of a cabinet/bookshelf/whatever, why would you need to edge band that backside of a plywood shelf? Would there be any advantage to doing that?

[Brian Hale]

Not unless you can see it. In fact, in the case of a shelf, the edgbanding would show on the surface which means you'd need to do the ends also.

It all depends on what you think is correct.

Brian :)

[glenn bradley]

If you're talking veneer edge banding for appearances, I agree with Brian; no need. If you're asking about using thicker strips for anti-sag reinforcement, then I would do front and back.

[Jim Becker]

No...and you don't need to "poly" all the sides, either...

[Kelly C. Hanna]

No, I never do that...that's wasted wood.

[Larry Norton]

I edgebanded all 4 sides for a while. But then I realized that probably 90% of the time, the customer would just move the shelf up or down without taking it out, so the majority of them wouldn't see the edges. I do stain the edges and poly them so they're smooth.

[Charlie Plesums]

Normally I don't edge band the sides or back of the shelf; a hardwod strip, taller than the shelf is thick, covers the front, adds decoration, and stiffens the shelf, so that doesn't get veneer edge banding either.

[Roger Everett]

What I generally do on an adjustable shelf is use a iron on banding on the sides and a 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 " band on the front ( rabbited and glued on ), for stiffness. The only time I do the back is if the shelf is going to wide and carry some weight, as in a book shelf, say a 12" deep shelf and 38" wide. In this case I do the back same as the front.
Roger