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Good Looking and Durable Plywood
Plywood is a great material for building cabinets, bookcases and shelves. But exposed edges usually look unfinished unless they’re covered with a layer of wood. While wood veneer tape is one easy way to cover edges, a better method is to glue or nail on a strip of solid wood nosing. It’s good looking and durable, and it protects vulnerable edges from abuse in high-wear areas. It also stiffens the plywood, an important feature for shelving. If you make it even wider than the plywood, as we show in this article, the extra stiffness will help keep plywood shelves from sagging. And unlike thin veneer edgings, the wood nosing can be routed to create a decorative edge (Photo 8, below).
In this article, we’ll show you how to glue and clamp wood nosing to plywood and how to sand the top for a perfectly flush surface and nearly invisible joint.
Pipe clamps ($15 each) like the ones we’re using are available at home centers, hardware stores and lumberyards. They’re a good investment. They’ll often come in handy for all kinds of gluing projects around the house. Buy a length of black iron pipe (3/4 in. or 1/2 in., depending on your clamps) that’s threaded on at least one end to complete each clamp (2-ft. and 4-ft. pipes are the most versatile). You’ll also need a belt sander fitted with a 120-grit belt to sand the edges flush, but 100-grit sandpaper wrapped around a wood or rubber sanding block will also work. It’ll just take more elbow grease.
Set Up the Clamps Before You Start Gluing
Your gluing and clamping operation will go more smoothly if
you set up the clamps before you start. That way you can move quickly once you
spread the glue.
Photo 1 shows the setup we used. Any straight
scraps of wood will work for the clamp pads. They protect the nosing and
plywood from the metal clamp faces and help spread the force of the clamps over
a wider area. Use spacer boards to hold the plywood above the clamps and flush
to the top edge of the nosing.
Start With Straight-Edged Plywood and Straight Nosing
Boards
You can use any size and thickness of nosing you want. But
3/4-in. thick strips anywhere from 3/4 to 1-1/2 in. wide are easy to find and
look great. If you don’t own a table saw, you can cut a clean, accurate
edge on plywood by clamping a straightedge to the sheet and using it as a guide
for your circular saw. Hardwood boards for nosing are available at home centers
and lumberyards. If you want a 3/4-in. x 3/4-in. nosing, you’ll have to
rip it on a table saw or have it ripped at the lumber-yard. Cut the plywood and
nosing to length, or if you need more precision, leave it slightly long and cut
it off later.
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