Shopsmith Forums

Thanks Chuck.. I had to go look up flitched wood to see what you were talking about.. And I like you didn't know that plywood came in different formats (for lack of a better term) either.. Anyway, for those not knowing what flitched wood is, a snippet from Wikipedia is below for reference (I gotta keep you guys on your toes!) :

Veneer is obtained either by "peeling" the trunk of a tree or by slicing large rectangular blocks of wood known as flitches. The appearance of the grain and figure in wood comes from slicing through the growth rings of a tree and depends upon the angle at which the wood is sliced. There are three main types of veneer-making equipment used commercially:

• A rotary lathe in which the wood is turned against a very sharp blade and peeled off in one continuous or semi-continuous roll. Rotary-cut veneer is mainly used for plywood, as the appearance is not desirable because the veneer is cut concentric to the growth rings.
• A slicing machine in which the flitch or piece of log is raised and lowered against the blade and slices of the log are made. This yields veneer which looks like sawn pieces of wood, cut across the growth rings.
• A half-round lathe in which the log or piece of log can be turned and moved in such a way to expose the most interesting parts of the grain.

I still don't know that quartersawn, riftsawn or flatsawn (rotary) are made from flitches purposefully. If so, manufacturers could ask a different price for each.

In Oak ply - Quartersawn will show rays (my favorite), riftsawn will show straight grain ((this is mostly the case in oak ply from what I've seen), flatsawn (rotary) will show sloped grain like flatsawn boards and may show cathedral grain if the top ply is assembled to give this effect. Now, maybe you will not have to ask, unless you want to test the clerk!;)

charlese wrote: Another thing to consider when using plywood is the lumber (boards) you will be ripping to serve as edge facing/shelf support.

Just Wondering Dept.: if anyone else used the plywood "show" side top veneer as edge banding successfully.

I used that on a swiveling TV platform as the easiest way to match top surface that was visible and it did a fine job, but it's also in a almost no-contact area, thus safe. Cutting strips from scraps was easy on the SS band saw.
Haven't tried it on an open shelf application yet.

keakap wrote:Just Wondering Dept.: if anyone else used the plywood "show" side top veneer as edge banding successfully.

I used that on a swiveling TV platform as the easiest way to match top surface that was visible and it did a fine job, but it's also in a almost no-contact area, thus safe. Cutting strips from scraps was easy on the SS band saw.
Haven't tried it on an open shelf application yet.

That seems like a lot of work. For banding, I usually use iron-on rolls of veneer. At one time my dad had a cabinet shop and he had an edge-banding machine ($$$). It used large rolls of veneer (you could use different widths), hot glue (the machine melted pellets that you loaded into a hopper) and when you fed a board into the machine, it glued the edge and trimmed it flush on both sides, all in one operation. A little sanding and you were done.

keakap wrote:Just Wondering Dept.: if anyone else used the plywood "show" side top veneer as edge banding successfully.

No I have never done that. Like Tim, it sounds like a lot of work to me.

For me, ¼" strips work well especially if backed up with a sider strip for clamping. For shelves I have used 1" pieces with a ½" dado. In this case the wider portion sits below the shelf. The width of these strips is variable depending on how much shelf support I think is needed. I've also used other widths of facing.

There is a couple tricks to using lumber strips;
--Allow the added thickness to fit into the case. In other words, make the plywood a little narrower to allow for the width of the facing.
--Make sure the strip is the proper width. If too wide, it can be trimmed with a flush trim router bit, or sanded.

Hi Rick,

A friend of mine in LA has a book shelf for sell which can meet your expectation. I would ask him to send me the pics and then would upload here. You could than have from him if you find it worth buying.

Thanks,
Andy.

keakap wrote:Just Wondering Dept.: if anyone else used the plywood "show" side top veneer as edge banding successfully.

I agree with Chuck. 1/4" strips are easier and superior. You can glue them on with good masking tape. A cabinet maker friend showed me that trick years ago and it has saved me a lot of time and work.

Paul M