Plywood with OH SOooo thin cherry veneer !

[Anne Schmidt]

Hello all,

Just brought home two sheets of 3/4" domestic A-1 Cherry veneer core plywood from a large distributor in LaVergne, TN. and upon arrival noticed the top veneer seemed thinner than I remember seeing. . . Peeled off several bits and they measure on average only 17/1000ths of an inch(a little more than 1/64")

Is it my eyesight? I am concerned because I am making large curved desk tops with wide solid edging and find it difficult to flatten at the seams wo/ sanding/scraping through.

Any ideas on how to get through this ? . . . but not too far through IT?

. . . Maybe they should call it "student grade" .. . . I have a feeling it wants to teach me a lesson!

Thanks, Anne

[Sam Murdoch]

Wide as in high or wide as in in the flat dimension in the same plane as the top?

No matter, especially with mating curved surfaces this will be nearly impossible. I use Festool dominos to align surfaces with mostly good success but perfect alignment with no sanding required is very elusive even with the dominos. I usually very slightly break the two matching edges to create a very tiny (What I call "A** Cheek") that eliminates any issues with slight misalignment but this is probably not an option for your project. One thing for sure is to keep your glue below the top edge to absolutely minimize squeeze out. This will at least eliminate the need for aggressive sanding or scraping of glue residue, then you just have some careful sanding of misaligned surfaces to do. Preferably the edging ends up being above the veneer and not the other way. I lay painters tape on the veneer then scrape to the tape with a sharp scraper and finish past the tape with careful sanding. Very tedious but doable.

Otherwise, depending on if this is for you or a client, my recommendation is to return the cherry ply and use plywood or another substrate that you veneer yourself. Lots more work and $s but your success rate will be light years ahead.

[Anne Schmidt]

Sam, thanks so much for your suggestions. I will try the tape after careful use of my plate joiner. Depending of results, may aim either for veneer it myself or solid in the future .. . after all, the $190 I spent on cherry ply would buy a lot of solid cherry which in LaVergne, TN only costs 3.20/bf.

[Paul Murphy]

Gosh, I hope they aren’t making plywood face veneers even thinner!

http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/what-you-need-to-know-about-plywood/
“U.S.-made hardwood plywood has face veneers averaging 1/30" in thickness.”

I’ve seen a couple router jigs to trim plywood edge-banding (FWW125 pg79, FWW177 pg71), but you mention wide edging. If you are edging wider than what a router jig can trim, then I would set the jig up to get the seam close to flush and then finish the rest of the edging with a handplane and scraper safely offset from the plywood. A good jig will get you safely within a few thousandths of flush, and if you are really nervous you can finish leveling the seam with a compatable and easily sanded sealer (shellac or whatever you prefer for this project).

I mostly work in solid wood, and might use a plywood project as an excuse to try vacuum veneering with shop-sawn veneer. Another option might be to have a couple sheets veneered by a local woodworker who already has the equipment.

[Anne Schmidt]

Yeap! Pretty Thin!

Thanks. Good Article and that's the right term they use: "thin face veneers" They do say 1/30"( 33 thousandths) is average for domestic plywood, but this cherry ply face I have definitely measures about 17.

Just out of curiosity, I went on a measuring spree around my shop; the other various scraps I found lying around today measure between 18 and 22 thousandths(all poplar veneer core birch).

Maybe domestic makers are trying to compete better with imports . . . or maybe it's a regional distributor thing . . . or maybe it's 1/30th before sanding . . . . or. . . ?

It's a riddle to me still, but guess I better stop guessing and get to work!

[Kyle Brooks]

Anne,

I bought some oak veneer plywood at a big chain store for a small project that I was building for one of my fathers friends. It was a chest top and had it all done, sanded ready to finish. I put some stain on and could not believe my eyes. The stain made the paper thin veneer transparent and you could see the pink glue spread used to adhere the veneer. Needless to say, I was not happy. The door had solid oak trim around the plywood and the top had 1/4" solid oak glued on to look like it was several panels. Really has made me nervous about buying plywood at the big chain stores. So, I know what you mean about the super thin veneer. I think it is companies trying to get more buck with as little bang as possible. Just my 1 1/2 cents worth.

Kyle

[Mel Fulks]

Someone told me "It's so thin it only has one side" .

[Bill White]

Kinda makes ya wonder how the heck they cut it that thin. They could use those knives for skin grafts.
Bill

[Larry Browning]

I am doing a project right now that has these alignment issues. My solution is to use 1/8" hardboard splines. Simply cut a saw kerf the full length of the joint and join the 2 pieces with a spline. This will align them almost perfectly, so far it is working quite well.

[Anne Schmidt]

Thanks for the idea. Sounds very table saw-able. I like that.

[Anne Schmidt]

Paul Murphy, That router jig --for near the seam--idea sounds good. Thanks also for the sealer filling idea for the last thousandth or so. I will check out the FWW article if I can find it. Thanks again.

[J.R. Rutter]

Someone told me "It's so thin it only has one side" .

Ha - Perfect.