Plywood and my Planer

[Frank Pratt]

I do it all the time for people. $1/minute, which is basically free.

That's really inexpensive.

[Martin Wasner]

That's really inexpensive.

If you say so. Between electricity and abrasives it costs me about $.60 a minute to operate.

[Patrick Kane]

I feel like this was discussed before and a lot of people bemoaned the idea of dulling knives. That is what knives do if you use them. To sharpen a basic set of knives is like $15-18. Heck, his knives probably need sharpened anyways. I would rather spend $20 and 5 minutes, than $5-8 in belt sander belts and an hour of my life sanding plywood edges. Plane away, i say. Then send the knives out to be sharpened.

[Andrew Seemann]

I was trying to be diplomatic, but ya, my sentiments exactly. That plywood edge grain is just fugly. Using Baltic Birch ply would make it marginally better, but still pretty bad.

I can't quite put a finger on it, but something about that design looks like it wants to self-destruct. It looks like it should work in theory, but I picture it cracking as the plywood dries out.

[Art Mann]

I think the top might turn out to be pretty interesting. I agree that the surface won't be really smooth no matter how much planing and sanding you do but there is always coating the top with epoxy.

[Mel Fulks]

Those plywood tops have had a couple of runs. One was at least as far back as the 1950s. I can remember being interested in them at 5 or 6 years of age.

[johnny means]

Plywood edges can be finished as finely as you want. I guarantee very few people on this forum are achieving finishes this perfect. FWIW, he's applying these with a brush.

[Frank Pratt]

If you say so. Between electricity and abrasives it costs me about $.60 a minute to operate.

That's just my point. You're paying for power, abrasive & a guy to run the machine & only charging $1/min. A bargain for him, not so much for you.

[Frank Pratt]

I feel like this was discussed before and a lot of people bemoaned the idea of dulling knives. That is what knives do if you use them. To sharpen a basic set of knives is like $15-18. Heck, his knives probably need sharpened anyways. I would rather spend $20 and 5 minutes, than $5-8 in belt sander belts and an hour of my life sanding plywood edges. Plane away, i say. Then send the knives out to be sharpened.

Ya, go for it then, but you'd better have a huge stack of knives on hand cause you'll be changing them about every 5 minutes. I just know from sad experience how fast that glue line will destroy an edge.

[Frank Pratt]

I can't quite put a finger on it, but something about that design looks like it wants to self-destruct. It looks like it should work in theory, but I picture it cracking as the plywood dries out.

I hadn't thought of that, but plywood can delaminate pretty easily, depending on the brand & what day of the week it was made. BB is definitely better but it's also more money.

[Neil Gaskin]

https://www.pollmeier.com/en_US/Prod...bout.html#gref

check out the above link.

Its available at liberty hardwoods. I believe they have a branch near Lincoln.

[Art Mann]

The quality of the plywood in your picture is not the same as the (cheap pine?) plywood in the original poster's link. I know how rough it will be because I have laminated two sheets of plywood for a router table top before and then attempted to finish the edge.

Plywood edges can be finished as finely as you want. I guarantee very few people on this forum are achieving finishes this perfect. FWIW, he's applying these with a brush.

[Martin Wasner]

That's just my point. You're paying for power, abrasive & a guy to run the machine & only charging $1/min. A bargain for him, not so much for you.

Sorry, I read your post as "really expensive" rather than "really inexpensive"

[William Hodge]

I'm planning a plywood project and I have a question. I'll be going for the look of the desk in the blog post that I'm going to link to. My question is this: Once I get the panels glued up and flattened on one side can I run them through my planer to get them to final thickness or will that ruin my blades? Thanks in advance.

Plywood is sanded to thickness, leaving grit on the wood. Running that wood through a planer will dull sharp knives. It won't ruin the knives, unless the knives are disposable or already dull.

To check this out, put newly sharpened knives in your planer, and run plywood on one side. Then run solid wood full width, and look at the difference.

I keep a portable planer on a cart. When I get sandy wood, or wood that has been on the floor, I send it through the little planer to get cleaned up.

[Jason Christenson]

Thanks for all the feedback. That's kind of what I thought. I guess I'll be building a router bridge.

Thanks again.