On 2007-10-05 03:12:03 +0100, said:

hey dave, thanks for the advice. Just been onto B&Q website and i have
seen ply there for cheaper than the link i gave above and in sizes
that will fit into my car. result!

however, i notice they have hardwood ply and softwood ply - what is
the difference?... i think im alergic to the look of veneer so i need
the ply to look nice on one face. The edges i plan to conceal with
some ordinary wood.

These are the shelves i plan to build, i really like the bracketless
design even if they are overly chunky.
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/makingshelves.htm


Here's an assortment of ideas.

If you are looking for a furniture grade ply, I don't think that you
will find it in B&Q or any of the other sheds - I've certainly never
seen it any of them. Generally they have a cheap construction grade
material and sometimes one a little better, but the outer veneer is
poor and usually patched with filler. You might be lucky in being
able to select a few sheets that you feel are good enough for what you
want and then you could use their rent a van/truck to get it home or
alternatively ask them to cut it to size for you. A word of warning
though. The panel saws in DIY sheds are usually not well set up and
you can easily end up with something 3-5mm out. This is useless if
you want to make something joined together. However you could work
out a detailed layour sheet before you go using graph paper - do this
anyway for best economy of material use - and then you should be able
to have pieces cut in the correct order. Here what I mean is that for
a freestanding piece like a desk, it may not matter if a dimension is
3mm out provided that the connecting piece is 3mm out as well by being
cut at the same time without the saw being adjusted.

Nonetheless, a panel saw is able to do much better if properly set up,
so I would ask them about that. Ask them to cut a piece of scrap and
let you measure it. If it's out, then either they need to adjust the
saw calibration or to allow for the error in other cuts. At a DIY
store, this is an exercise to do in the week when they are less busy
and perhaps more receptive.

If you are going to go for furniture grade ply, these start at the £40
range in 18mm depending on what you want. Note that there is also
veneered MDF available which can be easier to work. The larger
suppliers of these kind of boards such as James Latham
http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk/ and Arnold Laver http://www.laver.co.uk/
will I think, only want to sell complete 2440x1220 sheets but you could
ask. Other than that, if you want pieces cut to size then it would
be better to approach local timber merchants (not builders merchants).
Fax them a list and a cutting diagram and ask them to quote. You
will pay rather more than for uncut sheets.

If you are going to cut furniture grade ply yourself then you need to
invest in a good quality circular saw with a cast base, not a stamped
one - e.g. Bosch, Hitachi (expect to spend £80-100) and get a good
quality sheet materials blade for it. You then need a work area
large enough and to properly support the material for cutting. For
this, you need to have a cutting guide or guide clamp. If you can
find good quality and a straight piece of 100x25mm timber, you can use
that, clamped to the sheet. The idea is that you run the left side of
the saw against it, so it needs to be positioned precisely for that to
happen. Alternatively, you can invest in guide clamps. Look at
www.axminster.co.uk and catalogue number 340954 for an example.

An alternative to ply, which you may or may not like, is laminated
board - normally in pine. This is strips of wood laminated together
into boards of various lengths and widths and intended for shelves and
some furniture construction. It's easy to work with and generally
straight and flat. Most of the DIY stores have this, some more than
others and prices do vary.

The box type design that you are looking at also has the advantage of
providing strength as well as a fairly easy way to neaten edges as long
as you adequately fasten the front and lower pieces. Note that there
is a grade of ply which has one good side and one moderate side which
would be a good choice for this. Either it is best grade material
with one dinged side or specifically made that way.

You can also fit (for example) hardwood in a strip to the edge of ply
arranging for it to be just the thickness of the board. It does need
to be carefully trimmed after gluing it one - typically with a small
router with trimming bit. The result looks very good in a contrasting
timber, but it's something requiring practice on some scrap material
because it's easy to wreck the veneer of the board. Another similar
approach is to use an iron on veneer. This has a hot melt adhesive and
you iron it on to the edge of the board. After cooling you can
carefully trim (or sand at an angle) to finish it.


If you are going to be doing a fair amount of this kind of work, you
might want to look at getting a biscuit jointer. These are ideal for
joining panels side by side or at angles. The tool is like a small
circular saw with part projecting blade which cuts a segment slot in
the edge or other position of material. It has fences to register the
tool and then it is pushed against springs to make the cut. The idea
is that the slots are accurately referenced to the edges. Assembly is
then with beech biscuits which can be bought very inexpensively and
glued and clamped into place The biscuit swells with the glue (e.g.
white wood glue) and makes a very firm and accurate joint.
Professional biscuit jointers with fine adjustments cost up to £400,
professional ones around £150-200, but there are quite usable ones at
around £50-60. The very cheapest are often reviewed as being
inaccurate so to be avoided. The results are good. You can make
very strong constructions without using those horrible plastic blocks
or having screws on show - e.g. putting shelves part way up a cabinet.

For the desk that you have in mind, another option to consider for the
top is to buy a length of woodblock kitchen worktop - available in
almost any wood you like This will give you a very sturdy top with a
finished front edge and little to do to finish apart from several coats
of Danish Oil with a light sanding.