# Plywood joints



## Slaqr (Dec 1, 2018)

Hi, new to the group. I'm building 2 paraments cases on wheels for church. Each case is approximately 24" x 24" x 72". Using Sheets of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood. I haven't cut the pieces out yet, planning on cutting the edges for 2" long box joints. I'm open for ideas, suggestions, glue, photos of what you have done before. Thank you.


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

*I am planning on cutting the edges for 2" long box joints*

can you provide a sketch of what you have in mind ?
members here may know of a way to attach the edges 
with minimal plywood edge showing.

.

.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

You might check out the Infinity Lapped Miter bit set.


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## CaptainKlutz (Apr 23, 2014)

Most any strong joint will work for rolling plywood cabinet.

Sound/Stage crews used to use painted cabinets with pocket screws on butt joints, protected with external edge guard to prevent breaking corners. Heavy duty rolling amplifier or tall rack mount equipment cabinets usually get 1×1 corner bracing glued/screwed in to reinforce corners. Built hundreds of sound stage cabinets over years. These days, blow molded HDPE has replaced plwood to deal with abuse.

Spline reinforced miter or lap miter joint would be my recommendation for cabinet that is supposed to appear more like furniture in church. Add some decorative brass plated steel corner guards too.

One challenge is using wheels combined with tall 6' height.
If any substantial weight is inside the cabinet, it will attempt to bend/rack from top to bottom as it gets pushed around. Will need to have couple of permanent bonded shelves inside to eliminate the tendency to rack.

Will need to reinforce the caster mounting, as the smallish metal plates on plate casters will punch right through plywood if they get rolled down a set of stairs with only 7-8 inch drop. Either use double thick bottom plate, or add 6×6 hardwood plate between caster and bottom of cabinet to spread out forces. On 300+lb amplifier cabinets we used to use 1/4" steel plate for reinforcement. Don't skimp and buy cheap plastic casters, get decent urethane wheeled version with weight rating at least 1.5x what cabinet is supposed to carry.

This may seem intuitive, but is often missed when designing tall rolling cabinets. 
How best to 'grab' 2 foot x 2 foot cabinet to move it? 
You can't get your arms around it. hehe 
Most professional rolling cabinets will use a flush mounted drop handles. If you mortise the large versions in 3/4 plywood, need to double up thickness behind handle. Not uncommon to mount a external wooden plate on side with mortise handle mounted into plate - ugly but it works. 
If dust & dirt inside is not of concern, add some simple oval holes for hand grab in back corners.

Best Luck.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

You could use 2×2's on the inside corners or framing to help attach the plywood, and install corner molding on the outside corner. Using a "Lapped Miter Joint" that Gene suggested does hide the edges on the plywood. Good for small boxes, but for a larger carcass you need a better support joint to go with it. Would suggest a frame under the box if you plan on installing casters. I myself wood build this with solid wood, since I don't use plywood, even though plywood would be less expensive.


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## Slaqr (Dec 1, 2018)

Thank you for the quick reply.

The cases are horizontal, i have 6 rods set up running full length of the case for each paraments to drape over. The inside of the cases have to be open as much as possible.

I will beef up the corners & the caster mounts.

These paraments are pretty old & I need to be careful with them.

I will have pictures of my progress & the original case for reference this weekend.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Here is an idea from me if you like it. Just add casters at the 4 corners of a suitable height. I use 1" square bars so the paraments won't slide off, but round rods would also work. Square is easier to get than round. The front and back is left open.


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