Sanding birch ply.

[karma67]

yes mark but the 2 outside sheets have the grain running length ways dont they,im not saying a plane is the final finish by the way,i also dont need a pompous lecture on ply,i was a cabinet maker for 20 years!

[Bigman80]

yes mark but the 2 outside sheets have the grain running length ways dont they,im not saying a plane is the final finish by the way,i also dont need a pompous lecture on ply,i was a cabinet maker for 20 years!

[walpurgis]

truly wondering how people make this:

With radiused corners, sanding is no problem.

[walpurgis]

And you can use a belt sander to produce straight and nicely sanded edges on ply.

Clamp the belt sander on its side to a suitable board. Fix another board to the existing one in front of the sanding belt face to raise the workpiece. Clamp a piece of 2" x 1" wood or similar to the upper board to act as a movable guide at the back of the workpiece and you're ready to go. Just take off the absolute minimum on each pass and do it very slowly, moving the guide as necessary.

I've done this and it works!

[Metlor]

A router with a profile cutter (a bearing guide above the bit) will probably give the most accurate finish.
You do need a straight edge to follow thought.

Clamp the straight edge on top the board you want to finish, but set it back a mm or so, the bearing runs against the straight edge whilst the cutter trims the edge of the board below.

[mikmas]

I've planed 18mm birch ply to get out initial irregularities and get a straight edge no problem - just have to go easy near the corners and set the blade low.
Also used a shuffle sander with no bother - does tend to add a slight dip to the edges though.
After that, finishing work with sand/glass paper stuck to wood block with double sided works well (if laborious)
Would avoid using any kind of basic circular saw - leaves radial grooves that can be an absolute sod to remove. Basically the DIY amateur jobs are too small and just not up to it.

Place I used to work years ago had an electric bench plane that worked wonders ... if you can find a helpful wood working shop

[mikmas]

Place I used to work years ago had an electric bench plane that worked wonders ... if you can find a helpful wood working shop

Like this:

[Qwin]

Check out my latest speaker build using panels of birch ply.
All were cut using a hand saw and finished on a belt sander with 80 grit fitted. Dead straight and true, no gaps in those joints.
I used a straight edge and builders square to check as I went.
http://www.jkwynn.co.uk/Project_Imag...ev_Cabinet.pdf

I tried a circular saw on the first cut, it ripped it up, I was amazed how good I got with a hand saw, in terms of straight and square.

[YNWaN]

yes mark but the 2 outside sheets have the grain running length ways dont they,im not saying a plane is the final finish by the way,i also dont need a pompous lecture on ply,i was a cabinet maker for 20 years!

Perhaps you need a pompous lecture on the nature of wood grain then because what you say can only be true of two of the four edges! I’m sorry you viewed my post as pompous but at least I resisted being rude - a shame you did not! Oh, and for what it’s worth, my experience of doing this sort of thing, on a daily basis, is going on 30 years now.

[YNWaN]