Sheet goods with hand tools?

[Cliffcolvin]

I know this may be counter-intuitive as plywood is probably a little more on the modern side, but does anyone have any tips or tricks for working with sheet goods using only hand tools? 

 

I have recently switched over to only using hand tools, and am still relatively new to the hobby, and would appreciate any feedback. If the answer is to just do it with power tools that's fine, but I'm convinced someone out there has to be using ply wood for the many excellent uses it has with only hand tools. 

 

Thoughts??

[sjk]

Shannon did a video on this a few months ago:

http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/rww198-kids-table-chairs/

[h3nry]

I treat plywood just like any other piece of wood:

I use a saw to cut it. I then use a plane to straighten the sawn edge, or a rasp to shape it.

About the only plywood specific trick I use is if I'm worried about tearout on the back of a cut that goes across the grain of the outside veneer, I put a piece of blue tape along the back side of the cut-line - helps a bit.

34 minutes ago, Cliffcolvin said:

plywood is probably a little more on the modern side

 Plywood isn't totally modern - it was first invented by the ancient Egyptians.

[Cliffcolvin]

Awesome thanks to both! I will check out the vid. I did some searching, but I suppose my google-fu wasn't up to par.

[h3nry]

Also,

if you're working on a plywood edge - always treat it like end-grain - since some of the layers will be presenting you end-grain.

And if you're cutting it - always treat it like a cross-cut since you'll be cross-cutting the fibres in some of the layers.

[wdwerker]

Listen to h3nry, he creates incredible furniture using hand tools!

[h3nry]

27 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

Listen to h3nry, he creates incredible furniture using hand tools!

I don't cut a lot of joinery in plywood though. Usually just square panels for drawer bottoms or jigs and templates.

[wdwerker]

And if someone is planning to build extensively with plywood and hand tools they are striking out into a lot of effort and learning.

[mds2]

I use a cross cut saw to break down full sheets into manageable sizes.  From there they go to the table saw. 

[Cliffcolvin]

All of this is great!  As I watched the RWW video and read the comments; I realize that like I often do I set this block in my mind making this seem to be more difficult. I am not planning to do extensive work with sheet goods by hand, but there are many great things that can be made with a bit of plywood, and I think I was complicating it too much instead of just approaching it like another piece of wood. Thanks to everyone for the responses!!!

[Tom King]

The glue in any plywood dulls cutting edges much faster than plain wood.  Not so bad if you have good sharpening skills, but if you rely on buying sharp tools, they won't last long.