Glueing hardwood edges to plywood?

[Tom Andersen]

Hi guys,

I am making some shelves for my daughter, who is very demanding :D. The shelves are made of 3/4" plywood and she is not happy with the raw edges, so I proposed to glue some thin rectangular wood profiles (hardwood edges) to the edge of the plywood before painting. I made the profiles 1/128-1/64" thicker than the plywood and planned to sand off the rest by hand (I don't have a thickness sander). Unfortunately, it was difficult to glue the profiles exactly flush with the plywood, because they tend to float a little bit up or down during the glueing process and don't look perfect. How do you guys glue profiles to the edges of plywood or MDF? I could have made them 1/16" thicker than the plywood but since I don't have a thickness sander, I am not sure that I can sand the oversize away with a belt sander so that it looks good.

Thanks
Tom

[Barry Anderson]

If you've a router, route them away with a fllush trim bit. Less chance of sanding through the plywood. Another possibility is using a plane and skewing the plane while you plane off the stock. HAND sand the last little bit for a perfectly flush joint. I like the router, best ...

Barry in WV

[terry hansen]

FWW #156 may/jun 2002 had a good article on edging plywood. I usually take the opportunity to create an L to provide extra strength for the shelf and then glue and pin from the bottom of the L into the ply. Using just an edge I'd block plane and scraper. Good luck

[Dan Stuewe]

If you're handy with a router/laminate trimmer, you can make the edge wide and then trim with either a flush trim bit (with the router on the edge of the shelf) or with a modified base and a straight bit (with the router on the face of the shelf ... http://www.patwarner.com/vertical_trim_subbase.html). Or, since you said it would be painted, using a nail gun and filling the holes would work too. If the edge banding is thick enough you can use biskets (sp?) or a spline. If you want to add extra strength, you can cut a 3/4" rabbet along the back of the edge banding and attach that to the edge.


(looks like Barry and Terry beat me to it!)

[Andrew Williams]

i make a T-shaped molding to fit into a groove cut in the edge of the plywood with a slot-cutter. Trim it flush with a block plane.

[John Huber]

Is the problem the cosmetic appearance of the plywood edge? Why not use the iron-on edge banding? The seam will disappear after the primer and first coat of paint. Lots easier to plane off the excess than a thick hardwood edge.

[jonathan snyder]

Leave your edging oversize, and trim it with a block plane. No dust, no fuss!

Jonathan

[John Lucas]

Tom,
If your wood strip is oversize,don't worry about it and dont try to sand off.leave it wide bt make the extra on the underside. The topp of the shelf should be smooth.
Do like countertop people do. Use brad on one end to hold the woods strip in position, Then, every 6 inches align the top carefully and use nylon reinforced strapping tape. Start it about 3 inches on top amd pull over the aligned wod strip and go four inches underneath. This makes for a great edge "clemp". remove the tape the next day and scrape away any glue squeezeout.
Here Beth uses tape for edging a sshelf:
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/shopc-12-6.jpg

http://www.woodshopdemos.com/shopc-12-7.jpg

http://www.woodshopdemos.com/shopc-12-8.jpg

I learned this trick from some kitchen countertop installers. The nylon filament tape is just flexible enough to give good tenion as you pull across the edgng. Masking tape doesnt hold well enough. Duct tape is a pain.