Help Glue Problem - Woodworking Talk

mpis · 02-21-2008, 02:57 AM

Hello all,

First I want to say that it is nice to have a place like this online where people can talk about woodworking...

I have a problem I have been preparing a cabinet in which I lost on the top of this. The top is approx 3/4" solid red oak, and under that is 3/4" cabinet grade red oak plywood. I have included some pictures to show you what I mean.

The problem is???

What should I use to put the solid red oak top on with?

Should I glue it to the plywood as I had major problems with this before for warping.

Should I just use screws and screw it together from inside the cabinet? That would leave some room for the wood to move.

Two solid panels together. The measurements are around 19" wide x 48" long

Any help would be great..

Thank you

Capt Crutch · 02-21-2008, 09:42 AM

You could attach the top with screws coming up through the plywood, and just drill the holes through the plywood maybe 3/32" oversize to allow the solid wood top to move. (And don't glue it.)

Personally, if I was going to use the solid red oak piece for the top, I would consider pulling out that nice piece of red oak plywood underneath it (since you won't see it anyway) and save that for another project. In its place, I'd use something cheaper/less nice.

cabinetman · 02-21-2008, 10:53 AM

You could just use the 3/4" Oak plywood for the top and edge it with solid wood. Then, you wouldn't have a movement issue, and you wouldn't have endgrain showing.

mpis · 02-21-2008, 03:58 PM

Hello,

I was thinking about using the plywood for the top.. I was going to edge glue some strips on anyways to hide the edge of the wood.

I had also thought about figure 8's to hold it in place so that it will not warp.

Thank you

kknight128 · 02-21-2008, 08:32 PM

what are figure 8's?

cabinetman · 02-22-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kknight128

what are figure 8's?

It's a fastener connector for tops to frames/aprons. See it here.

illegalsmile · 02-22-2008, 11:36 AM

I am pretty stingy with materials... so I to would remove the 3/4 nice oak plywood top. I would replace it with a "dust frame" out of strips of a secondary wood (or ply) and set it in a rabbit along the top edge to hold the cabinet square. Then I would use the figure 8 clips to attach the top to the "dust frame".

Could not tell from the pics, but are you planing on banding or edging the end grain of the top? Careful to do so in a manner that will allow it to expand/contract.