Need help with pine plywood...

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For larger projects (such as a coffee table) I am having trouble finding pieces of pine large enough to complete a an adequate space. Plywood is an ideal size rather than several pieces - Can I rout the edges? I've tried plywood on a scroll saw and pieces always fall out of the middle. Any help or suggestions are very appreciated!
 
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Don't think routing on plywood end will be any good - you are always going to be in at least some end grain.
Have you considered using pine joined together with biscuits/glue to make a wider board ?
If you do,always try to alternate the curve on the end grain to reduce cupping of the boards.(We see Norm do it on New Yankee Workshop all the time - assume you get the programme in the U.S. ;) )
 
heeelllooo pitrunner and welcome

the last thing you want is a large piece of pine over about 7 inches as the timber has a tendancy to cup much more stable is several pieces as powertool says.
glued together with end grain down and up alternativly to give you a more stable piece of wood
you can use ply but you need to edge it with solid wood[pine]
if your ply is delaminated at all its either the wrong grade or the wrong grade ;) .
remember this is a british forum and some of the terminoligy may be different
 
As big all says, wide pine boards are more likely to cup.
If you get 7 or 8 inch wide boards it's better to rip them down the middle, sometimes removing an inch or so from the middle then jointing the edges before glueing them together to make a coffee table top.
Alternate the grain pattern to stop much of the cupping.
By wasting the centre section you make the boards more like quarter sawn timber which is more stable.
If you want to use plywood it is better cut accurately with a circular saw but preferabley on a table saw and edge band it with mitred pieces of solid timber to match.
As the plywood is unlikely to move you can glue the edge bands preferably reinforcing the mitres with biscuits.
Dry fit first to make sure the edge bands are a good fit.
 
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I buy sheets of laminated pine in which the individual pieces of timber are either 3" or 4" wide. This is sold in all sorts of thicknesses and saves a load of time over laminating your own. I would think I have used over 100 of these sheets and have only had two that cupped.
 
Two prolems with buying laminated pine is the high price and you can see every stip that was laminated.
Joining your own boards is far cheaper and looks better as you can match the boards to make them look like a single board width.
This looks a lot better on furniture and especially table tops.
 
I guess this gives me an excuse to go get a jointer! Thanks guys for all your help. If I were ever to use plywood as a surface, is there some way to make the edges more pleasing to the eye? I've heard of an edging that irons on to look good...
 
Dewy said:
Two prolems with buying laminated pine is the high price and you can see every stip that was laminated.
Joining your own boards is far cheaper and looks better as you can match the boards to make them look like a single board width.
This looks a lot better on furniture and especially table tops.

I agree with you that laminated pine won't look as good as homemade but you got me thinking about the cost. I pay about £12/sq.m for laminated pine and 49p/m for 3" X 1". This works out at £7.00/sq.m, a difference of £5.
I dont think theres any way you could make it yourself for £5 labour charge.
 
petewood said:
I agree with you that laminated pine won't look as good as homemade but you got me thinking about the cost. I pay about £12/sq.m for laminated pine and 49p/m for 3" X 1". This works out at £7.00/sq.m, a difference of £5.
I dont think theres any way you could make it yourself for £5 labour charge.
If you make enough things from pine the cost of a cheap bench jointer and a plate joiner (biscuit jointer) soon makes it worth the cost along with much better looking pieces.
I never buy just what they have at the timber yard.
I sort through it for knot free pieces and only buy those.
I build up what I need over a few weeks and keep the rest in stick on a shelving system until needed.
I wouldn't buy 3x1 for laminating but prefer to use wider boards and rip then joint them to make the most of the grain to prevent cupping.
Done right and you would never know they are not single width boards.
 
The sad thing is, it's hard to get good quality timber now. Went to local yard and just about all his softwood was only fit for making packing crates. What the hell is happening to this country, all we seem to import is cheap cr@p.

Wanted a new iron for a "Hand Router", the BOY behind the counter asked what make is it "Dewalt, Bosch" I give up.

Salem.
 
l o l
Wanted a new iron for a "Hand Router", the BOY behind the counter asked what make is it "Dewalt, Bosch" I give up.

you should have told him it was handraulic and the motor is a salem 2000 :LOL:
 
What is the difference between a bench joiner and a biscuit joiner?
 
A bench jointer is a plane with a large bed and fence for planing timber straight and square.
A plate (biscuit) jointer cuts slots in wood when joining one piece to another with compresses beachwood biscuits and glue, used when edge joining timber to make a wide board i.e. table tops.
The biscuits expand with the moisture in the glue making a tight join.
 

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