Although there are many methods to construct fine furniture, some need skills and equipment well beyond the reach of the average home workshop hobbyist, advanced techniques are not absolute must in the construction of strong and attractive furniture.

Here are the fundamental considerations in home projects, and some particular tips to build your work easy and low-cost.

Why Plywood?

To make a piece of furniture of solid hardwood throughout would be an high price deal. Plywood is a laminated product consisting of 5 or more plys of thin wood bonded together with glue and pressure to form a panel of uniform thickness and considerable strength. The best ply is a veneer of select wood and this is the surface that will show in the finished piece of furniture.

Lumber core differs from plywood in that it has a thick center core of butt-joined strips of solid wood sandwiched between four thin plys of veneer, two on each side. The top plys consist of the finish veneers which can be of any type of good furniture wood while the plys directly underneath are laid with their grains running at right angles to the core and top plys.

Lumber core is much lighter than plywood and is highly resistant to warping. The glass-hard glue that bonds plywood and lumber core tends to dull tools, and since less glue is used in bonding lumber core, that material will be found to be easier on tools than plywood. In some cases plywood is more expensive than solid wood, but this is not normally the case. In fact, in the case of fine hardwood plywoods of 3/4-inch thickness, the price is normally less.

In any event, the house hobbyist generally finds that money-saving is not the essential factor when he selects material for his project, since materials seldom exceed one-third of the value of the average cabinet or piece of furniture.

In almost all of his furniture projects, Bill Baker gears his instructions toward the use of plywood rather than solid wood, not only because of the factors of wood strength and outdoor durability, but also because of the simplicity in cutting out necessary pieces.

There is normally little waste, there are less operations required for the home hobbyist, and plywood is presented in a very wide range of beautiful hardwoods. New methods for edge treatment, such as Wood-Trim in matching veneers, also add simplicity to the job.

Duraply is plywood with a special over-lay surface; it is non-porous and is, therefore, easy and economical to paint. When finished, Duraply has a handsome appearance.

Nakora is the majority fine-looking of inexpensive plywoods for indoor furniture, particularly for modern furniture. Birch plywood is one of the strongest hardwood plywoods obtainable and it is especially suited for colonial furniture.

I also write about bunk bed. If you intend to buy or find information you can read about bunk bed accessories and bunk bed ladders.