Birch plywood cabinet

[mazdaq]

I'm a novice when it comes to carpentry but I want to have a go at making a birch plywood cabinet, which will not have a door. Roughly 2.4m long, 60cm high and 50cm deep. I will then divide it up into 4 sections, by spacing 3 dividers equally.

I don't want to be able to see any fixings at all. One thought I had was to use 18mm ply, screw into the side pieces from the top piece and then glue another piece of 18mm ply on top, to hide the screws. This would give it a nice, chunky look. But is that cheating? What other options are there? How would a pro make the joins?

 

[Burnerman]

One way would be to use a router to house in the upright dividers....sort of cutting a trench, if you catch my drift.
Birch ply will have a nice surface finish but have you considered the raw edges?
John

 

[Dave54]

I'm not that keen on screwing into the edge of plywood, even decent ply will tend to be delaminated by the pressure of the screw going in, even with predrilling, which you should do anyway. If you do go that way I'd glue as well.
Just as a thought you could plug the screwholes with contrasting wood to make a feature of them. That's something people either love or hate.
The other options as far as I know, are dowels of some kind, either traditional round dowels or "biscuits". Easy and quick, but they require a jig for the round dowels and a machine for the biscuits. Resulting joint will also need to be glued and clamped. Another option is to use a "pocket hole" jig to make angled holes from the inner face of the joint.
As Burnerman says, have you considered the raw edges? Some consider them a "feature" with birch ply, but they are difficult to conceal unless the corners are mitred, which would be difficult for most inexperienced woodworkers.

 

[Norcon]

Pocket hole screws will hold combined with glue.
Use the stepped drill with stop collar set to about 8mm.
Then use a plug cutter to make filler plugs or make your own dowel.

Could use birch or different species like walnut to make a feature with the plug inserts.

Or finish it off greene & greene style using a mortising chisel or a square hole punchl....
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/5334/greene-greene-style-bookcase

Have a look at the master...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLopA6NF7dk

 

[mazdaq]

Thanks to everyone for the ideas, I'll look into the different options.

As for the raw edges, I do want them exposed rather than mitreing as I like the look of the edges. So should I sand the edges with fine sandpaper and then coat with an oil or varnish? What about just sanding the edges and not coating with anything?

 

[Norcon]

You need to coat with something otherwise the piece will mark and stain easily with grime and dirt.
Sanding sealer then lacquer.