How To Cover Plywood Edges | Beginner Cabinet Making & Furniture Tips

Plywood furniture is a cheap and easy. Here are three easy techniques to cover plywood edges.
Plywood is a fantastic material for furniture and cabinet making, but to make it look like solid wood, you need to cover the edges. This video walks through three methods of edging you plywood - using the veneer from scrap ply, solid wood strips, and tongue and groove solid wood.
#beginnerwoodworking #cabinetmaking #plywoodfurniture #plywoodworking
TIME STAMP:
0:00 Why ply?
1:00 Scrap Banding
3:09 Solid Edging
4:25 Tongue and Groove
7:03 Conclusion
If you are a beginner, check out our tool safety videos:
• Table Saw for Beginners
AND beginner furniture series: • How to Build Tables
And don't forget to subscribe so that you don't miss any of our weekly content uploads.
/ @aksawdust
Check us out on INSTAGRAM: / everyday_craftsman

[@fredparsons5134]

I like the plywood skin banding you did, I paint plywood a lot so that would be perfect.

[@AKSawdust]

Glad the idea could help. Thanks for the positive feedback.

[@fattrolls8094]

I like that last idea you showed.

[@AKSawdust]

I agree. The solid edge cap looks really good and the tongue and groove make it rock solid.

[@tonybells131]

Thank you.

[@kawalinu]

Very useful, Thank you 👍

[@bartman6591]

lovely.

[@osgeld]

the biggest advantage to iron on edging is the fact I don't own a table saw or currently have the room for even the most basic contractor models. I do however have a skillsaw that I bought at a thrift store for 9.99 and a Harbor Freight blade that cost me like 7 bucks after coupon, after adding some scrap lumber to garage floor and a guide from a old bed frame, I can break down sheets within a 32nd of an inch (im an engineer) and make some decent but not pro level free standing cabinets shelfs and whatnot.

[@AKSawdust]

I hear you - use what you have and what you have room for. It’s one of the things I love about woodworking - there is almost always a work around using different tools or techniques to achieve the result you are looking for!

[@bostongreek5667]

3:21 after you cut the strip how do you get rid of the seam before painting?

[@elnatanliberman8403]

Hi, Thanks' for those tip's , if the plywood has laminate on it I found it difficult to paint the edges without staining the laminate, do you have some recommendations for me?

[@lifeisbeautiful1556]

Use a masking tape

[@elvankaracan6485]

[@shirleerogers5969]

I cannot get the iron on edging to attach...no matter what I use.

[@AKSawdust]

I hear you. I feel the thin strip of solid wood, though takes longer, looks better and last longer.

[@alirehman5430]

Hello ,any idea how to cover curved or round edges

[@AKSawdust]

If your veneer (or banding) is thin, it should bend around the a curve. You can always get it wet to allow it to be more malleable without cracking.

[@Bkamron]

So, with the cost of all the painter's tape and glue and wasted plywood from which you got the veneer, wouldn't just going out to buy some 3dge banding?

[@AKSawdust]

Certainly could. It was just an option.

[@adamsanche5766]

Alright lets talk acoustics

[@AKSawdust]

Acoustic like the quality of the video or guitars?

[@r.a.cobalt8965]

I am not the most skilled woodworker but I have some talent and a fine Delta Cabinet saw with all the accouterments. I find that you use the three basic plywood techniques but your execution is seriously. flawed. No.1-- Safety. The blade guard is a must. After my second trip to the ER to save another digit, I devised a floating blade guard, with a vacuum capability that is suspended from the ceiling. Lower the blade below the saw deck when you turn it off/. #2 Glue squeeze -out. When you folded that edge band over the joint using the tape technique you are going to have 'squeeze out and no way to ensure the joint is 'sqeeze-out" free. #3 That tongue and groove technique is just sloppy. That 'glue well' below the tongue just leads to loss of gluing surface and potential joint failure. That much excess glue will take a long while, if ever, to fully cure. Glue is a bonding agent, not a gap, chip and 'way to loose' joint filler. Excess glue is never a good thing. RAC

[@AKSawdust]

Ever run a dado with the guard on? I’m guessing not. You cannot make a grooves cut with the guard. That being said, after the comment of “seriously flawed” I went back and watched the video - there is no riving knife behind the blade, which is a serious safety issue. In this particular case, the riving knife was out of alignment and I couldn’t make the cut as it was, so I removed it… an error on my part that has since remedied. As for the glue concerns, I have had little problem with squeeze out using the tape method, or “sloppy” glue-starved joints on the tongue and groove. I would, however, happily, watch a video on your technique and amend my techniques if you have a better way.