Plywood and Dovetailing

[psf513]

I am new to this. Are the 2 compatible? Can I dovetail 1/2" plywood to make corners or will the plywood delaminate or splinter?

[Ed in Tampa]

PSF513
Welcome!
To answer your question, yes in all likelihood the corners of the dovetails would tend to delaminate causing you problems. The problem would appear at the very corners of the cuts where any minor glue defect would alllow the lamination to separate. Also if there are even tiny voids in the ply (which there almost always are) they are going appear very unsightly.


If you want to try cutting them make sure you use backup pieces to prevent tear out and be prepared to glue small pieces back in place.

If were me I would use a miter cut or possibly a glue joint cut made with the router. Or even a simple over lap butt joint where on side piece is glued into an "L" cut made in the front and back pieces. If the cut is made deep enough the thin part of the leg of the "L" (bottom) actually becomes a veneer covering the plys of the side pieces.
Ed

[Nick]

Yes, you can dovetail plywood; I've seen it done in some European furniture designs. No, it doesn't delaminate if the plywood is properly manufacted. The trick is that you need to back up the plywood with a scrap so the router bit or the saw doesn't tear out the veneer where it exits the workpiece.

The real trick is choosing the right plywood. You cannot perform an operation like this with the horse puckey they try to sell you in place of plywood in home centers. You're going to have to bite the bullet and buy some real plywood. I would recommend a "baltic birch" plywood because all the laminations are the same thickness. Because of this, the outside veneers are thicker than normal and less susceptible to tear-out.

Unfortunately, the birch harvests in Scandanavia and Russia were pretty miserable last year -- the ground never got fully frozen and the sawyers could not get their heavy logging tracks back into the mushy land where this stuff grows best. Baltic birch plywood is expensive in the best of times, but it's doubly so right now.

With all good wishes,

[scottss]

I use baltic birch all the time for drawer constuction and never have a problem. Here is a pic of a through dovetail that I made using my ss bandsaw.

[psf513]

THANKS

You have been most helpful:)

[a1gutterman]

I have seen many quality drawers that were made with Quality plywood that were assembled with dovetail joints.

[woodisgood]

hey guys. ive been thinking about making a couple drawers and trying dovetails for the first time. then i come on here and there's a thread about just what i planned on trying, without asking first !! this isnt the first time this has happened either. you guys just seem to know what im thinking. i was going to try with cheap 1/2" plywood, but now ill be using solid wood. thanks and keep up the mind reading.

[charlese]

Yeah! We often seem to be on each other's wavelengths! Even across the Nation and Canada. Amazing, isn't it? Or maybe not! We all have a similar basis!