I cut up some 3/4″ birch veneer ply for some cabinets I am making. After cutting to size and cutting for the biscuits I was doing a dry fit. No matter how I tried I could not get the darn thing square. Finally, the light bulb went on the my plywood was not flat. I verified that this is the case using my trusty level.
So how do I get my pieces flat? Is it even possible? The only idea I have is to wet the concave side slightly to try and encourage it to swell, then stack some heavy weights on it for a few days/weeks. I am not too happy about wetting my nice veneer though. Any other suggestions, other than starting over with flat ply?!
Thanks,
Dan
Replies
I had a similar problem recently and finally gave up. I left a 4x6 piece on my assembly table with cinder blocks on it for a week and the bow still came back as soon as I removed the weight.
Good luck man. If you find out anything i'd be darn interested in it.
JD
Dan-I don't know the dimensions of your cabinets, and this may sound stupid but I've been known to make out-of-square doors and drawer fronts to correct for crooked carcases. The other option (assuming you're not using face frames, which makes the problem moot anyway) is to face the plywood edges with solid wood that's slightly wider than the plywood is thick ("pseudo face frames"?). This way you can "cheat" the openings to be square, while the carcase is not. You are the only one who will know or notice.
Crooked wood is a reality, even for the manufactured stuff. Finding ways to address the challenge is the fun of woodworking. And if the results are less than perfect, then, hey, you have a genuine handcrafted piece of furniture with "character"! Lofton
Weighting the piece down is not the operative factor in straightening a cupped piece, and may in fact impair the board's ability to straighten by block moisture release from the convex side. I've never tried it with plywood, but have straightened several small tabletops over the years by using the "concave side down on grass, placed in sun" method. Never, ever have I weighted it down.
forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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