Repair plywood

jeff__130 · Post by **jeff__130** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:14 pm

Gents,
I screened the searches for my problem but to no avail. Youtube was no help, either. Here's my problem:

I'm making a set of bookshelves for the playroom and I've cut everything from 3/4" oak plywood. Everything was going great until I looked at the fourth end piece (making 2 sets of shelves) and noticed that the 2nd layer of plywood is absent from an edge I planned on routing. The missing plywood forms a pie shape that has a cord of about 2 inches, with the pie cutout pointing towards the center of the board. I was planning on staining these an ebony color, so whatever fix I do needs to be able to accept stain.

I don't know how well I could bust another piece up and try to wedge a fit (I would appreciate tips on that, too). Of course, I could fill it in with sawdust and glue or some filler, but then I'd have to paint. I don't want to buy another sheet of plywood just to have a bookshelf.

Culprit · Post by **Culprit** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:44 pm

Lowes sells wood putty filler that is sandable and stainable. Minwax is one brand. I don't know how it would handle the router. If it chips or something then you can repair the repair after routing and sand it to match the contour.

If you can change your plan and not rout it, then you can buy iron on oak veneer tape to cover the plywood edges. I have used it on 3/4" oak plywood with great results. I know Woodcraft sells it and I have been told that Lowes does too.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:59 pm

Where dose that piece fit in the shelf?

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:02 pm

I'd glue in a patch sawn from a scrap piece of plywood or solid wood. Using the bandsaw and a fence you'll make plenty of filler samples in short order. Set the fence to the thickness required and then cut the arc to match the void. If you need a perfect fit because of the profile you're planning, you could make a pattern of the void out of paper and then cut the patch to match. Let the patch stand a little proud of the void and trim the excess after the glue dries.

I wouldn't use glue and sawdust as the stain won't be absorbed by the glue and the patch would be visible after staining.

jeff__130 · Post by **jeff__130** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:31 pm

The idea to resaw using the bandsaw came to me after I went back to the garage and stared at it a little while longer. I actually think it looks pretty good. I may have to do a little fill in with the products mentioned above after routing. Thanks for the help, fellas.

To answer a few of the questions above:
1) the surface would have been the exposed edge near the top of the profile pieces.
2) I have to route. My uncle just made a really nice set of shelves in his house and I gave him a hard time for having squared edges.

Culprit · Post by **Culprit** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 4:24 pm

jeff__130 wrote: 2) I have to route. My uncle just made a really nice set of shelves in his house and I gave him a hard time for having squared edges.

That's as good a reason as any! Please post some pictures of the final product.

algale · Post by **algale** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 4:54 pm

Depending on how large the router profile is, you could rip all the shelves 3/4 narrower and then glue on a hard wood strip that you could then route. Al lot more work but the advantage is that you'll get a cleaner profile with the router bit and it will take stain much better than the plywood.

Al

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:08 am

Maybe I'm a little late with this solution, but here it is anyway. Maybe it will help for other plywood edged projects. Solid Oak strips are the clear solution. Ripping solid oak strips - about 1/8" thick - are good solutions for many curved plywood edges. For straight edges, the ripped strips can be thicker.

For curved edges, you may need a clamping jig the same shape as the project in order to get a tight joint.

Here's a project made from glued 1/16" strips in order to go around the tight corners of a plywood base. In this case the strips were built up to about 3/36" thick
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[ATTACH]18222[/ATTACH]

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:32 am

Can you open the slot with a biscuit joiner and then cut a patch to fit? The biscuit joiner will form a slot of a predictable width and a patch can be cut and sanded to the proper width. Keep the glue only at the tip of the patch and use only a very small amount to prevent squeeze out. Remember that the plywood veneers have glue between them and may not accept stain as readily as the core wood. (may leave some light stripes) Also Woodsmith Shop TV show had a show that showed how to "ebonize" wood using India ink available at art suppliers. The opaque quality of the ink may cover the edge better. Just food for thought. You could also use the edge tape as mentioned earlier and ebonize the tape.
Bill V

garys · Post by **garys** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:13 am

A plywood edge will never look good stained or painted, so if the edge will be seen, either add hardwood strips to the edges to hide them, or get some of the iron-on veneer to hide it. If you use the veneer, you can't router the edge. To get a fancy routered edge, you want hardwood strips wider than the router cut.
This is a Murphy bed I made last winter. All the large pieces are plywood. You can see the iron-on veneer hiding the plywood edges.