Build a box

[Stan Johnsey]

Help me build a box out of 3/4" plywood. The dimensions are 6' x 2' x 1' with a removeable unhinged lid. It needs to look like furniture. I don't want any plywood edges showing when it is sitting on its long axis with the lid up. I have minimal woodworking skills but I do have a good table saw with a dado blade.

My initial plan is to set the bottom in a 1/4"x1/4" or so dado and cut a rabbit on the bottom panel to fit in and maybe just let it float like a door panel.

Side of the box mitered with a brace in each corner to add stiffness and glue surface area.

The part that is the problem is the lid and the opening of the box it sits on. I'm not keen on using veneer. How do I put some solid wood edging on the edge of the lid and the edge of the box?

[H. Gregory Porter]

Stan,
There are a lot of ways to go here. Although you seem to indicate your skills and tools are at a beginner level, you have a couple of options.

I suggest adding a strip of hardwood to the top edge of each panel. The easiest way You could join it is by biscuits if you have a biscuit joiner. Or by a spline. To do this cut a kerf in the edge of the panels and in the solid wood strips. Rip a piece of wood the width of the kerf and glue it into the edge board and the panel. Do the same on all 4 edges of the top panel.

[Rick Malloy]

I used plywood for a desk and edged it with red oak. I basically did a rabett along the top of the plywood edge, and the bottom of the oak strip, that was exactly 1/2 the width of the two pieces. Lots of test cuts on the table saw while moving the blade minutely each time, then cutting the rabbets (increasing depth) again. Do this until they fit together perfectly flush, or as close as you are happy with. When you sand you will tune the joint even more, but the close it is the less sanding needed.

for the corner, I just did 45s on the oak. Here is a relative closeup of a corner, it is a picture of my morning coffee but you can see the corner if the resizing didn't make it too small. The strip of oak on the underside of the desktop is twice as wide as the top. This was done with table saw and miter saw for the corner, and a little lite smoothing with a chisel on the rabbet to clean it out for better glue coverage.
corner.jpg

[Stan Johnsey]

That looks very nice and would work for my application.