Plywood? Tabletop from Glueing Thin Hardwood Boards
Mattaboy
| Posted in General Discussion on
Beginner woodworker here.
So I have a bunch of thinner boards from a past project. They’re mostly around 0.5″ thick, and rough sawn. My partner would like me to reduce the size of the lumber pile in the backyard, so I want to put these boards to good use. I’m thinking of making a coffee table, and glueing up a bunch of these thinner boards to make a tabletop that’s about 1″ thick.
The wood is Hophornbeam, and is open-pored. They’re originally from a guitar build project, used as a fretboard.
I’d like a gut check here. Does this approach ring any alarm bells for folks? Is there anything I should be mindful of when glueing so many layers of timber?
Replies
If you can get them from rough sawn to a smooth surface that will accept glue, yes you can do it. A lot may depend on you alignment and/or orientation of the pieces but it can be done.
I'm interested in what others have to say about this. I see some potential issues: 1. Uneven thickness of ply pieces. 2. How to make them flat and even without chewing them up. 3. How to apply even clamping pressure. Who you gonna caul (:?
Certainly, Tim Rousseau can do it, when you look at his Scandanavian style desk.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/tables-and-desks/ep-2-veneering-the-writing-surface
Unless you want the stacked end gain effect, why not just mill them to 1/8" thick and glue them to plywood or MDF (two faces and all four edges)? You can also get a lot more "plywood" out of your stash that way.
I am concerned about the fact that they have been sitting outside...are they dry enough, were they covered or have they been snowed/rained upon, are there bugs, etc.
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