lewisc Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 I'm asking forgiveness for the lack of fine wood working in the next post. I'm trying out a few ideas I've come across. I'm building a stool for the wife using plywood and hairpin legs (please don't be mad) that I've made. The top is made from strips of plywood that I've glued together. It will be sanded soon and a round over will be put on it. Any suggestions for finishing the ply? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Sand it with fine paper only and be careful not to sand to much. You could try using some poly on it. The guys could explain better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 Cool idea. if it were my wife's cute tush, I'd be finishing with a thick film. a couple coats of poly after sanding it down should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krtwood Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 If you want it to stay light then go water based. Oil based will turn it yellow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalloonEngineer Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 On my stacked plywood chair I used an oil finish 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Brendon_t Posted November 10, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 34 minutes ago, BalloonEngineer said: On my stacked plywood chair I used an oil finish Now that's as decent as I've seen first post.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisc Posted November 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 That's an impressive piece of plywood. How many sheets did it take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisc Posted November 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, Lester Burnham said: lol He's been waiting on that one for a while. That's cool, man. How thick are the strips? I agree with brendon, sand 'er down and toss a on a few coats of poly. I think a good layer of epoxy would work as well. Thanks. I'll try to get a coat on tomorrow. I used about 20 strips that are 18mm thick. The final size is 350mm in diameter. When you say a layer of epoxy, could you explain that a bit more? like this? Edited November 10, 2016 by lewisc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalloonEngineer Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 It' took 2 1/4 sheets of 3/4 plywood (and 1/2 gallon of glue). Not what most people envision when I ask them to picture a plywood rocking chair. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lewisc Posted November 11, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 The Finished product. Wife is happy and I've had a few requests for more from others. The good thing with this is the top can be made from scraps. The legs cost about $10 to put together. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I think it came out pretty good. What kind of plywood scraps did you use to build it ? Were there many voids to fill ? How did you flatten the seat after glue up? Did you glue up a square and then cut it round after flattening ? i have a pretty constant supply of Baltic birch scrap that would work for a piece like that. The sculpted rocker is interesting but seems like hours of grinding and sanding were involved . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 Thats a cool stool, Lewis, nice work. Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisc Posted November 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 1 hour ago, wdwerker said: I think it came out pretty good. What kind of plywood scraps did you use to build it ? Were there many voids to fill ? How did you flatten the seat after glue up? Did you glue up a square and then cut it round after flattening ? i have a pretty constant supply of Baltic birch scrap that would work for a piece like that. The sculpted rocker is interesting but seems like hours of grinding and sanding were involved . I started with a piece about 450mm x 1000mm of pine plywood. I think it was a BC ply. I've got plenty of oak and other random bits of timber which will be perfect for things like this. I cut strips at 50mm (2") on the table saw, glued them in a square using Titebond II, ran it through the thicknesser and drum sander and then cut it out on the bandsaw. There were a few small voids. Probably about 4-5 that I filled with resin. Even with light passes on the thicknesser, the timber was a bit chewed up. The drum sander made quick work of that though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 damn! That plywood rocker ... Now that is how first posts should go!!! You can run end grain ply through the planer? I figured that would cause a lot of blow outs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 Anything is possible but I would approach planing plywood extremely cautiously ! Make your blank oversized or add a solid wood strip to the back edge to minimize any blowouts. Or take the much wiser approach and drum sand it to flatten & smooth with a finer abrasive . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewisc Posted November 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 It just clicked in my brain that i put endgrain through the thicknesser. Brain fart moment!! Wasn't thinking about that one. I forgot the ply alternates direction with each layer and was working with the idea that it was solid timber. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted November 11, 2016 Report Share Posted November 11, 2016 I wouldn't worry about plywood exploding in the planer so much, but it will be absolute murder on your knives. That's a job for a drum sander. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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