Thought-Provoking Baltic Birch Questions

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hi all - by now, you may have noticed I LOVE MDF.

Cheap. Dimensionally stable. Not too much of a financial bite when my two boys, Genghis and his accomplice, Atilla get going.

I also like using materials outside their usual context. (for those who remember my eldest boy's desk and its "MDFness").

With such a long preface, I've got two questions.
1 - Has anyone ever cut dovetails by hand in Baltic Birch plywood?
2 - Have you ever routed mortises and tenons - specifically a child's bathroom stool's top into its sides?

The idea is to show off traditional joinery techniques in man-made materials (and I also like the look of retaining the BB plys)

Any insight (and opinions!) would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. Howard

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

Well I've got some old US Army issue furniture that "feature" plywood drawers with dovetail construction. Hardly fine furniture. The only problem is that after about 30 years the plywood has begain to delaminate and dove tails just fall a part. So dove tail idea isn't original, but it works just fine.

How about cresents and pins ? I've never seen that in plywood.

[Phil Phelps]

.....there are different grades of baltic birch, though.

[Howard Rosenberg]

crescents and pins? I'm completly open to new ideas... Thank you. Howard

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

Well I tried to find a photo of the joint on google and I found only one.

http://www.homeplacefurniture.com/antiques/FURNITURE/2677_MarbleTopCommode.htm

[Jim Becker]

crescents and pins? I'm completly open to new ideas... Thank you. Howard

Leigh's Isoloc joinery style might also be interesting in the multi-ply materials. Good quality baltic birch should work great for your application and the exposed edges will lend a unique design element. One things though...be sure to cut any joinery with very sharp cutters and if "by power", use tearout prevention techniques, such as backing boards (and maybe even "fronting" boards).

[Tom Scott]

I can't imagine cutting dovetails by hand in plywood. I have heard of others trying this, but the tough glues in the plywood were H#$! on the saw blade and teeth. If you give it a go, test it out with a beater of a hand saw first, not your L-N (or equal). Also, it's hard to imagine how hard it would be to chop out the waste with layers alternating and the glues, and......

I think plywood is made for machines, not hand tools. At least, not fine hand tools like you would want to use for joinery.

Tom