View Poll Results: Which way should the carcase be built?

Voters
19. You may not vote on this poll
  • Solid Wood Construction

    12 63.16%
  • Plywood Construction

    7 36.84%
Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Solid Wood or Plywood Construction?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    3,628

    Solid Wood or Plywood Construction?

    I'm almost ready to start the next phase of construction of the armoire in the SU Project Demo thread. Should this thing be built using plywood or solid wood.

    Plywood
    -Simple carcase corners
    -Edge banding
    -Plywood dust panels

    Solid Wood
    -Dovetailed carcase corners
    -Dust panels built frame and panel style of secondary wood
    -No edge banding but primary wood rails between drawers.

  2. Solid Wood or Plywood Construction

    Hey Dave:

    When you say plywood we're talking laying our own veneer???? So MDF falls into plywood category also????

    Neil

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    3,628
    Neil, I suppose it could be MDF construction, too. I wouldn't go with drawing veneer on MDF for this model--I wouldn't do that for any model. My thought is that There's a bit more detail in the solid wood construction to think about due to wood movement and crossing grain. Plywood construction is easier to draw but maybe doesn't show how to draw in some of the details that follks might have difficulty figuring out.

    If the masses want solid wood construction and I dovetail the carcase, I won't spend time showing dovetails when it comes time to build the drawers. the method is the same for both so no need to repeat.

    In fact I'm going to attempt to avoid repeated demos. For example I won't show drawing any more mortises or tenons or detail mirroring parts.

    Thanks for the input.

  4. Sorry Dave!!!

    Hey Dave:

    I'm sorry.......I didn't know we were going back to the demo. I thought you were throwing out a design survey.

    Whatever you think is best for us......I'm with ya!!!!

    JEEEZZ.....I'm feel'n stupid...... or maybe its just the excitement of woodworking within the Creek.

    Neil

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,688
    I'm just not a plywood fan when it comes to furniture. Cabinetry, great. But I prefer solid stock for furniture.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    I'd use some plywood, but not exactly the ways you're considering.

    First, I'd change the carcass sides to frame & panel, so they better match the style of the doors. Because your panels are not raised, I'd probably use plywood for them, either applying my own veneer, or carefully selecting parts of commercial plywood to get nice grain and color. I'd use plywood for an internal subtop. (The subtop holds the sides together, and gives something for the real top to fasten to.) I'd use solid lumber for the drawers, dovetailed at the corners, and plywood for the drawer bottoms. (Plywood drawer bottoms, glued in, add enormously to the drawer's strength.) I'd use plywood for the carcass bottom.

    My choices result in solid lumber everyplace you can see, but utilize plywood for structural advantage.
    Last edited by Jamie Buxton; 10-03-2006 at 11:31 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Westchester Ca
    Posts
    370
    If I were building this it would be solid wood

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    London, Ont., Canada
    Posts
    2,200
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker
    I'm just not a plywood fan when it comes to furniture. Cabinetry, great. But I prefer solid stock for furniture.
    I voted plywood.

    I see this as a design example, I don't see it as a plan for a real piece of furniture that I would intend to build. And as such I think it is best served with showing lots of different things.

    For instance: do a drawer with dovetails. Do another with lock rabbet. Do another with butt joints. Do another with finger joints even.

    So, you're doing raised panel for the doors, so why not show basic plywood construction with face frame for the box? Then do shiplap for the back - just so we see how do do it, not that a plywood carcass would need it.

    So that is my thinking.

    But I also see that someone might want to just see the start-to-finish on a regular real project.

    so there you go.
    ...art

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Laguna Beach , Ca.
    Posts
    7,201
    Try to use solid wood...
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  10. #10
    I voted for solid wood since I am in the process of finishing up the case work on a desk for LOML and would like to see how someone else would tackle some of the tasks that I have done on my own.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    3,628
    I started out working on the case as if it was going to be constructed of solid wood and I thought it got to be rather confusing. Much of it is repetitious (sp?) and I came to the conclusion that there's not as much value in that for the case as I thought there might be.

    I'm also concerned that disagreement might arise concerning the way I might build a case in solid wood compared to other methods. The point of the demo is to show how to approach drawing the various parts and creating working drawings at the end.

    I think I will go with Art's suggestion and use several different methods for assembling the drawers.

    Actually, in drawing the base I've used most of the commonly used tools. Most of the rest of the cabinet uses the same tools over and over.

    Soon I'll get started on the case portion of the demo and we'll go from there.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards
    ...The point of the demo is to show how to approach drawing the various parts and creating working drawings at the end.

    ...I think I will go with Art's suggestion and use several different methods for assembling the drawers.
    That sounds good.

    I voted plywood. I'm too far down the SK learning curve to think about materials, joints, etc. in a demo. If you use Art's suggestion we can pick what best suits our SK skill level.

    Larry

Similar Threads

  1. Question on wood allergies.
    By Jonathon Spafford in forum Turner's Forum
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 04-02-2009, 2:03 PM
  2. Bed rail construction
    By Michael Merrill in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 07-23-2006, 8:55 PM
  3. Will wood screws hold this up?
    By Louis Brandt in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 07-21-2006, 10:35 AM
  4. Finishing - Plywood & Solid Cherry
    By Teresa Jones in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 09-27-2004, 11:42 PM
  5. Solid wood cabinet from Shedua and Wenge
    By Mark Singer in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 12-17-2003, 11:47 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •