Trimming the edges of a top made from two glued sheets of plywood.
Hello,
I’ve been gluing two sheets of oak veneer plywood about 105″ long by 19″ wide. The idea was to end up with a desktop with top and bottom oak veneers facing out so that the top could be flipped and be perfect on both sides (my daughter’s request!). In gluing the sheets (with help) the ends were overlapping almost perfectly, but the centre was out by about 1/8″. The board had been cut at a professional shop and must have had a slight curve along the cut edge. If I had thought about this, I probably should have rotated the board before I glued it, ending up with a matching top, although a little curved.
Sorry for all the description, but I now need to get the edges square and straight all around ready for an edging of 1 1/2″ wide, 1/4″ thick white oak edging that I already prepared (slightly oversized). I thought of using a spiral-cutting square router bit (which I don’t own) to even out the edges, but need to have the veneer on both sides cut sharply. Also, I don’t know if 1 1 /2″ is too thick for this treatment. The obvious thing is sanding, but that seems like it would be an endless task with lots of risk of rounding the edges.
Replies
1st, I'd run a string from corner to corner to assess how much wood has to come off. You said 1/8". I gotta wonder how many people beside you would notice, point & giggle.
Anyhow, if the difference IS 1/8", use a sanding block and elbow grease or a rasp & elbow grease or live with the embarrassment that 1/8" is ruining your mental health.
Last, we are always the worst critics of our work. Worse comes to worst, you can say the dog jumped up on you.
Mikaol
It's plywood. What will you have covering the edges?
Router is the way to go, but use a spiral compression bit for clean edges on both faces.
I lay a straight plank on the top and use a large trim bit with a top bearing along the line I want to trim to. Here is one of 4 white oak doors trimmed to size using that method.
Your biggest problem is that the veneers on commercial grade veneered plywood are VERY thin and prone to tear out...
Completely agree with MJ - Spiral Compression bits will give you excellent results - my suggestion would be one with flush trim bearing mounted spiral compression bit like the Infinity Mega Trim Bits - down side is they are quite pricey - having said that I have never regretted spending the money on good tools...
Other reasonable option would be to use a track saw with a zero clearance strip (Festool/Makita) and new or recently sharpened blade. Again pricey if you don't have one already...
Good luck!
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Hello,
Final choice was to purchase a Freud 77-212 double compression bit. Used a 1/2" template guide in my router. Had a 10ft long piece of the white oak plywood, left over after cutting the two pieces for the desktop, and used it as a straightedge. Offset it about 3/32" from edge of the desktop and, using several passes, managed to produce perfectly smooth and straight edges all around the 1 1/2" thick double thickness of plywood. So stressfull, but successful!
Great to hear!
Awesome. Congrats!
That's great. Thanks for coming back to close the loop.
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