Main > Woodworking

Best way to straighten warped plywood?

(1/3) > >>

Nocturnaloner:
Alright, my near-total ignorance of woodworking will be on display here, but I need some help!

While putting together the parts of my cabinet, I noticed that one of the sides has a noticeable curve to it.  I figured it was pretty common for plywood sheets to have some waviness to them, and that it would straighten out as I screwed the ledgers and cross-braces into place.  Famous last words.  Now I can't fit the marquee into place, because the bend at the top of the side panel is severe enough to throw the top of the cabinet badly out of square.  Anything I can do to fix it?

Crazy Cooter:
Warped plywood is not good.

You can try to use screws and extra braces to get it back, but like I said:
Warped plywood is not good.

Take a pic of what's wrong and I (or someone else) might have an easy fix.  i.e. gouge the wood, jam a "spreader" piece of wood in at the top,  etc.

whammoed:
Depends on how bad but if there is a slight curve in it you can brace it in some way so it is straight and after some time it will stay straight.  For quicker results it can be bent in the opposite direction and kept there for a little while until it returns to a straight position when the bracing is removed.  I have straightened out small bends in just a few hours by placing the board over two 2x4s curve side up with a weight in the middle and a light misting of water on the plywood.

Flinkly:
comming from a woodworker, warped plywood is a common thing unless you buy the really expensive stuff, but being arcade hobbiests, we tend to spend our dollars on other things.

Nocturnaloner:
Don't have a working camera at the moment.  Would a handscrew type wood clamp help to take the bend out while I brace it?
http://www.toolking.com/grip/view.asp?id=3937

Flinkly, you're right, there is no frame as such, and the 'ledgers', or what I am screwing my cross panels to are only 3/4" square.

Whammoed, thanks for the tips.  I may have to take the whole thing apart to get this right.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

Go to full version