# 1/16" Plywood (for those small jobs)



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I was a little bored in the shop today so I thought I'd try something I've been thinking about for a while - thin plywood. I used a scrap of walnut I had around, sized it so it was about twice as long as wide, re-sawed it (woodslicer) to well under 1/16". Those blades are amazing. Then I vacuum bagged one piece to crossbands made from the second piece cut in half and when it came out, thinned both sides in the drum sander. Then I bagged the other side on and sanded again. What the photos show is a 4×8 (inch) sheet of three-ply walnut that is 1/16" thick. I didn't realize until I came in and blew up the photos that one side is quite a bit thicker than the other. I could have run it through a couple more times and likely got 3/64".

Now I have to figure out what it's for. Any ideas?


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Sweet. I bet it is strong.

Vacuum Press and Drum Sander. Two of my favorite 'fun' tools.

Ummmm. Doll house furniture? 
I know of a guy in Britain that could make boxes out of it.

Steve


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## matt1970 (Mar 28, 2007)

THE LIGHTEST RAFT ever! I love the statement: "I GOT BORED"--a man of your talents that could get really fun, i'd bet…


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Too strong Steve. I was kind of hoping that I would get something that could be bent and twisted in ways that a normal piece of wood won't (mobius strip sort of thing) but who knew that when you laminate layers they get really stiff? Yes, joking. I still want to cut a diagonal strip out of it and check the properties. There are definite possibilities here , I just don't know what they are yet.

Matt, Maybe I'll do a model of your boat. The scale should work but the scarfing is going to be a bugger.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Not to get too off topic, but have you seen the lumber that is compressed from the endgrain? Extremely bendable. I don't know what to do with it either. But way cool.

http://www.bendwoodengineering.com/

Buy it here:
http://www.flutedbeams.com/buycoldbendhardwood.html

Steve


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

A little pricey and not much fun if someone else has done the heavy lifting. That would just be cheating, but that's the kind of thing I have in mind.

This thread is about experimentation. You can't get off topic that easily.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

Oh the possibilities. I would start with scrolled bookmarks, they would look so much better out of walnut ply then th 1/16" birch ply I used. If it was strong enough I would make some fun jewelry pieces too, the plys should make it stronger and allow some fun details to stay attached.
Very cool, makes me wish I had a drum sander.


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## Schwieb (Dec 3, 2008)

I confess I'm not familiar with the woodslicer blades but I did a little checking and found them at Highland Hardware with very positive customer reviews. Thanks for the tip. Sure wish I had a vacuum press. Seems like the custom plywood concept could have many applications.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Nice job. I use 1/8" for box bottoms now. It saves on getting out the dado set. I can't see using 3/64" or 1/16", but 3/32" maybe.  That would save changing to the 1/8" blade.


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## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

Good box base, Paul. Might be a bit of a waste though.


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## rwyoung (Nov 22, 2008)

I've made thin plywood from pre-sliced veneer. 3 and 5 layers, alternating grain. Needed some thin pieces and I didn't want to try resawing so I just dug through the veneer scraps (got a bunch of small pieces) and made it up in the vacuum bag.

Also, for a small vaccum bag, the RoarRocket Skateboard bags are pretty slick and work great.

I've often wondered how it might work if I used highly contrasting colors for the layers. Might make good stock for cutting puzzle pieces. Not unlike making veneer/inlay banding logs.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Impressive!


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I'm still a little bored so I took some of your suggestions. rwyoung, I like the banding log idea. The only thing is it's going top take a lot of laminations to get very long segments. Then again if I put the banding on the box that Martyn thinks I could make from it, I wouldn't need very long pieces. MrsN, I made a scroll bookmark. I'll post a photo when the finish dries.
Here's what I made today, 3/32" five ply, alternating Wenge and Arbutus (Madrone). I will stack some strips of this tomorrow to start the banding log. I've included a photo for Steve showing it's strength. I didn't weigh the 12v cordless drill but it's not light.


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Thanks for thinking of me 

I was thinking it would be strong, because of the cross grain layers (duh). You proved it.

Now, I what if you put all the grains in the same direction? Like they do in wiggle wood, where it only bends in one direction. Might be fun, since you're bored and all.

Looks like you need to keep the saltwater off of your engineering tools.

3/32 divided by 5 is thinner than store bought veneer. You got a heck of a bandsaw.

Good playing,
Steve


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

To me Steve, it is important that tools do their jobs and do them well. I am certainly guilty of letting "cosmetics" go unattended. I think it comes from many years in an industry where "get 'er done" was the byword and no one spent a lot of time admiring their tools. They were too busy using them.
I think, with all the grains parallel, the piece would crack too easily when bent but if alternating layers were just a little, 5 degrees even, misaligned… you might have something. 
By the way, with these thin veneers I could have bagged this piece bent, twisted or wavy.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

This should have been a blog, I've got too many photos. Please go here: http://lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/series/3395


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