Want to make a maple mantel for fireplace remodel Measuring roughly 50 inches by 12 inches by about 2 inches thick just a plain box. Thinking Maple plywood for cost , and am looking for ideas and options for joining it with the least visible joints. I was thinking 45 degree bevels on the table saw any other thoughts or advice for a welder whose wife prefers wood? Travis
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Replies
TB
A truly plain box out of plywood isn't going to look particularly attractive and will be quite hard to build. Getting the corners to appear seamless when joining plywood is tough even for someone with a lot of experience and top notch equipment.
The outer layer of veneer is paper thin, you can't be off in the joinery even slightly because you can't plane or sand without cutting right through the veneer. Along the same line, you can't round off the corners, they'll have to stay sharp since rounding them would expose the inner plys.
For the price of a full sheet of decent plywood you could easily buy enough solid maple for the job.
John W.
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