sandwiching plywood between mdf

[David Christopher Robinson]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping to get some input regarding sandwiching 3/4" plywood between 2 - 3/4" mdf panels. The reason being, is that I want a solid piece of wood I can apply veneer to. The reason for the plywood core is that I will be using the piece in a bed and thought this would provide me with better screw holding and a structurally stronger panel, than gluing together 2- 1 inch pieces of mdf. I will be applying 1/8" solid wood around edges and veneering front and back faces.

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

David, welcome to SMC!

Can you describe which bed components you plan on using this sandwich for? You may want to use all plywood for side rails, for example, where they are carrying a lot of load over the length of the bed and do the "MDF with ply in the middle" sandwich for things like the head and foot boards where there is more structure involved. The same veneer techniques would apply throughout.

[David Christopher Robinson]

I am planning on building a platform bed. The bottom supporting box frame i was planning on using 3/4" plywood and veneering over that, as it is less visible and doesn't need to be 2" thick visually. The "Sandwich" pieces would be used for the outer rim surrounding the mattress and not bearing any real load. To give you an idea it would look something similar to this http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/modloft-worth-platform-bed. thanks again.

[Joe Chritz]

Lots of people veneer directly onto baltic birch plywood and it is actually the preferred choice for some.

It is expensive in 4x8 sheets in 3/4. I have used a fair amount of the 1/2 BB in 5x5 sheets and it has always been dead flat and fully stable.

You could also look at MDO which is a plywood (exterior grade) with a water resistant facing similar to MDF.

Surprisingly enough BB plywood and MDO are both available at my local Menards, so is Maple plywood in B2 grade.

Joe

[john bateman]

I did sort of the reverse, to get a strong, heavy, and cheap workbench top.
If your panels are large, you may need to use a vacuum press. That's how I did it.

If they are only 12" to 18" wide, you can probably use clamps and cauls. Your glue needs to be spread out very evenly...I would use Titebond Cold Press veneer glue and a paint roller with an adhesive roller-cover. It has a very short nap and won't shed it's fibers into the glue. Plain yellow glue gets tacky too quickly and doesn't roll out very well, especially on a large piece.

If using clamps, be sure that your panel is on a very flat surface. When the glue hardens your panel may be permanently bowed or twisted if you've clamped it to something non-flat.

http://members.verizon.net/%7Epecker/bench3s.jpg