Joining veneer covered plywood

[yangwoodworking]

I am fairly new to woodworking. I have some veneer covered plywood that was leftover from other project. Now, I want to use them to make a tray. I have a very basic question: how do I join the wood on the veneer? Please see the photo. The vertical piece needs to join the bottom piece. I do not think wood glue works on the veneer.

I guess I have to use router to remove some veneer from bottom piece? Or maybe I can use epoxy to join? Any thoughts?

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
The vertical piece needs to join the bottom piece. I do not think wood glue works on the veneer.
Snip.

It does.  Veneer is wood, and PVA/yellow/white/wood glue is fine.

 

[yangwoodworking]

Thanks Chuck for fast reply. Really appreciate it.

I could be wrong on the veneer. Here is the photo of the surface. It is smooth like a plastic. I remember store attendant called it Euro something. Does the wood glue work on this kind of surface well?

 

[Packard]

Assuming that the veneer is properly adhered to the other laminations, then a few small brads and glue may be all  that you need.  It will supply moderate strength. 

If you want more strength, then biscuits or dowels.  If the bottom of the tray is largely unseen, then you can through drill for the dowels from the bottom (but don't drill all the way through the sides. 

It is easier to edge band the bottom before assembly.  A good PVA glue like Titebond would work well.  You can clamp or use a few screws from the bottom to hold the sides in place while the glue dries. 

Half the laminiations will be face grain and half will be edge grain.  You will have the equivalent of 3/8" face grain to the laminations.  For that application I think that would be strong enough. 

Note:  When gluing the sides to the bottom, during the clamping operation it is really easy for the pieces to slide out of registration.
To prevent that I drive two small brads into the surface of the bottom panel and clip them off about 1/16" - 1/8" proud of the surface.  When clamped the pieces will press in the stubs of the brads and prevent them from sliding around. 

Addendum:  If this is a Formica covered panel, then I would use dowels.  Nothing really sticks well to Formica.

 

[yangwoodworking]

Thanks Packard! Dowels are great idea. I will do that. Looks like Titebond would work, which matches Chucks insight. Thank you both!

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks Chuck for fast reply. Really appreciate it.

I could be wrong on the veneer. Here is the photo of the surface. It is smooth like a plastic. I remember store attendant called it Euro something. Does the wood glue work on this kind of surface well?

This kind?https://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/product/europly-plus/

It's still veneer ply to me.

 

[yangwoodworking]

Yes, looks like that. Thanks for confirming it.

Thanks Chuck for fast reply. Really appreciate it.

I could be wrong on the veneer. Here is the photo of the surface. It is smooth like a plastic. I remember store attendant called it Euro something. Does the wood glue work on this kind of surface well?

This kind?https://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/product/europly-plus/

It's still veneer ply to me.

 

[Sparktrician]

Presuming it is 18mm plywood, I'd opt for 5mm or 6mm dominoes.  Just remember to set the plunge depth to no greater than 12mm on the bottom piece, with the plunge depth on the vertical pieces taking up the remainder of the left-over dominoes at a deeper plunge depth. 

 

[Dongar]

It looks like it is prefinished plywood so wood glue would not adhere to it if it is.

 

[yangwoodworking]

If I use Dominions, do I need to apply glue along the edge?

Presuming it is 18mm plywood, I'd opt for 5mm or 6mm dominoes.  Just remember to set the plunge depth to no greater than 12mm on the bottom piece, with the plunge depth on the vertical pieces taking up the remainder of the left-over dominoes at a deeper plunge depth.

 

[yangwoodworking]

It was indeed prefinished. I will test it out with Titebond and epoxy.

It looks like it is prefinished plywood so wood glue would not adhere to it if it is.

 

[ChuckM]

https://europlywood.com/catalogue/layer-panels/

Glue -PVAc or Karbamide-glue

Since you're using some kind of fastener (dowel or domino, etc.), wood glue is more than good enough given your application (a tray).

 

[pixelated]

A wood glue should work fine on the veneer if you sand through the finish in the areas that will be glued.
Otherwise, it won't stick very well, but might be adequate depending on how much load it needs to support.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Pixelated is right, if sanded first the glue will stick fairly well.

To support the weight of the contents of a drawer it might not stick well enough. Depends on how well you sand, so some kind of reinforcement like biscuits or dowels is recommended. If the bottom won’t be seen you can just shoot screws or nails up into the sides.

For neatness and best results (and gaining experience) you should follow your first instinct and route a half mm deep band all around the perimeter. In that case glue alone will be sufficient and the low curb at the edge of the half mm dado will aid alignment of the sides. You’ll need to remove some veneer from the faces of the sides that are overlapped by the other pair of sides. Careful measuring will be needed there. If you’ve already cut the sides to length this method might not be practical.

 

[Packard]

The best way to sand away the finish on the edges is with a shop-made sanding block that only allows the sandpaper to remove the finish from the 20mm wide band around the perimeter.  Hand sand.  It goes quickly. 

Take a block of wood and cut a rabbet along one side about 0.600" wide.  Use self-adhesive tape to cover that and then hand sand.

 

[Sparktrician]

The best way to sand away the finish on the edges is with a shop-made sanding block that only allows the sandpaper to remove the finish from the 20mm wide band around the perimeter. 

If the plywood is 18mm thick, sand only the outside 15-16mm.  [smile]

 

[Michael Kellough]

The best way to sand away the finish on the edges is with a shop-made sanding block that only allows the sandpaper to remove the finish from the 20mm wide band around the perimeter. 

If the plywood is 18mm thick, sand only the outside 15-16mm.  [smile]

Hand sanding or sanding less than the width of the part that will stand on the sanded strip will result in a tapered surface that will cause the drawer sides to lean outward, and result in a poor glue joint that is very narrow and weak.

Sound like he has a router and this is a good application for it. It may be that all he needs to do is remove the finish from the surface of the ply, depends on how well the thin top veneer is glued.