On Thu, 21 Jun 2012 06:24:12 -0400, Bill wrote:

Bill wrote:

I'm wondering whether I might do okay with a couple of small pieces of
something along the lines of Baltic Birch style plywood to mount above
and below the bench for the vise (hoping that it outgasses less or
slower than cheaper plywood)? If you knew how sick I got/get you'd
understand my trepidation. It's a "scary shortness of breath" sick. But
knowing the source (s) makes it better than when you don't know...and I
already endured that. Last time I checked, the Formaldehyde-free
plywood that Home Depot sells was only "countertop-grade" stuff, and I
haven't tried it yet. I see little alternative but to experiment a
little. The Baltic Birch stuff would be handy for jigs too... Anyone
have a favorite homemade-plywood recipe?

Is counter-grade stuff good enough for my vise application (reviews say
it's got gaps in it...)? Other F-Free substitutes? To me, my sense of
well-being is more important than stability.

Cheers,
Bill


I spent a couple of (more) hours looking into plywood again tonight.
Enough. I have an old lengh of Ash. I think I'll try a couple of
pieces of that where I would have used the plywood, unless someone tells
me it's a crappy idea. Ash (White) scores 1320 on the Janka
Hardness Scale. I couldn't locate a Janka rating for any plywood to use
for the sake of comparison. I planned to get some Yellow Poplar to put
in my vise jaws, but perhaps two halves of a short length of 2by4 would
work just as well. My intuition says that may be better for working with
Yellow Poplar (as long as it will hold it)--and that's something I'd
like to do.

Wood won't be as strong as plywood, at least from the side. The idea of the
plywood is to keep the legs square. It's the same idea as 1/4" ply on the
back of a bookcase, except that it has to take a load, as well.