Hello, all,
A while back I participated in a discussion about ways to minimize tearout when cutting dovetails in baltic birch (BB) plywood. I use a Leigh dovetail jig and router, BTW.
Today I tried coating the edges and ends of BB with Minwax’s Wood Hardener, let ’em dry for a couple of hours and then routed the pins and tails in the usual manner. Of course, I use a piece of scrap across the front edges, which usually minimizes but does not totally eliminate tearout.
The Minwax product seemed to work well. Even though my “backer” strip was pretty torn up, I had no tearout in the plywood. This is a big difference from a batch of drawers I made last week from the same batch of BB but without the wood hardener.
I applied the wood hardener next to an exhaust fan (the stuff has all sorts of nasty components) using a small (3/4 inch) disposable bristle brush. I simply “slathered” the filler (which is very thin) along the sides and edges of the plywood where I would be routing. It soaks in very rapidly and is ready to mill after about two hours.
If anyone else has tried this please let me know whether my experience this afternoon is nothing more than better-than-usual pure dumb luck.
Be well!
Replies
Hi,
Does that hardener stains the wood? Where did you buy it? Never heard of a hardener for wood.. what other uses? Interesting "experiment"..
Hi, Manny. The product is intended to stabilize rotted/highly porous wood so it can be filled and machined effectively. It is clear in color and when sanded, is not apparent. Now, when I apply the final finish (poly-acrylic semi-gloss) this may change...I'll post the results, probably Sunday.
Manny- Oh, sources: I bought mine at the local hardware store although I've seen it at HD.
Yes, I like to know the results .. I am wondering , if I were to stain after.. experimenting.. we should called ourselves wood chemists..
Thanks
Manny
I suspect staining would not work, since the hardener fills the pores of the wood. For my drawers, the point is moot since I finish them with semi-gloss poly-acrylic, which is clear. Now if the finish won't stick, then there's a problem!
Hi,
Talking about finishing... any good "process" to get a good cherry color on maple? Brand name of stain, etc..? Thanks
Hi, Manny,
You've just hit a sore spot. Cherry is cherry and maple is maple. Assuming your're referring to hard maple, the cost of the two are similar (at least around here). I'm not into making wood look like something it's not!
If you're only trying to get a similar color, I found a Tung Oil/Stain at a JC Licht store that was pretty good. I got it to make a shelf in a cabinet that would be closed most of the time and just wanted it to not stand out compared to the melamine coating. I wanted to see how it looked on maple a couple of weeks ago and while it's not bad, it's not a perfect (by any means) match. Like he said, maple is maple and cherry is cherry.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I never use to use BB to do dovetailed drawers until just recently and have been having the same problem that you have, tearout. Way to much of it.
what I have done is set my table saw with the blade up about 1/16" and set the fence so that I run the sides of the drawers over the blade and score a line right at the line where the bottom of the dovetail bit will cut. I did 22 drawers the other day and this technique only added about 10 minutes to the over all time. But I had no tearout on any of the drawers.
I used to use predominantly 5/8" poplar for my drawer sides but it seams like everybody wants BB. I don't care for the stuff.
I have heard that Apply ply makes a very good ply that doesnt tear out as much but I cant find it around Austin, TX.
Doug
You might find this interesting - States Industries, maker of Appleply, sells it as pre sized and prefinished drawer side stock.
go here: http://www.statesind.com/prod/ind_2a6.html
Corners
I prefer to buy the drawers out but somehow I do a lot of work for this one guy and he insists that I make everything!
What a damn fool, my time is so much higher then the guys at those drawer shops but he doesn't seam to get it so I make the drawers.
Theres not a lot of thrill in making drawers, specially after you've made a few thousand of the darn things, I might give that site a looksee/try and just say that I made em.
Doug
Sounds like a great technique, scoring the sides before dovetailing. I'll definitely give it a try.
Regarding, BB, I guess I've come to accept its idiosyncracies...plus no one wants to pay for solid wood drawers. My biggest problem with BB is the sheet size: 5X5. My shop is in my basement and materials come and go via a bulkhead door and very steep stairs. I can get a 4X8 sheet through the opening, but the BB needs to go to the basement via the inside stairs from the kitchen. Very elegant.
I did a batch of drawers with maple last year and had a great time, although the amount of work was much greater since many of the drawers were quite deep.
You may want to try my wood hardener/toxic chemical trick. Using a metal pan it should be possible to simple dip the drawer ends, which would go way faster than brushing, although brusing isn't too bad.
Fingers
I'll give your recipe a try!
I hate that 5' X 5' stuff. I always take my cordless circular saw with me to the supply house so that I can rip it in half. I'm only 5' 8" so my wing span isn't wide enough to carry that crap conveniently, plus it wont go in my truck with the topper and all the tools in it.
Doug
Here in Canada, I buiy 4x8 of Baltic (or Russian..) Birch all the time. In all the different thicknesses.
You should check with the commercial suppliers to see if they stock it, or if they are willing to bring some in for you.The older I get, the better I was....
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