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  1. #1
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    Default Seeking help on what thickness plywood to get

    I'm planning to build a mobile cabinet out of plywood to house a pc, monitor, smallish cnc and bits n bobs so that I can move the whole lot around easily and also cut down on noise and chips flying everywhere. The whole lot should weigh less than 40kg. As the cabinet will be in the house it can't be too cheap looking so am wanting to use russian birch. Size wise probably around 60dx70wx110h cm, with top, bottom, back and 2 brace pieces in the middle, one of which will support the cnc..

    To keep both cost and overall weight down I would like to use 12mm ply rather than 18mm which is commonly used for furniture cabinets. I *think* this will be strong enough (given it's russian birch) but am a relative newcomer to woodworking and so am looking for advice on this.

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  3. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Ply Thickness

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketwiz View Post
    I'm planning to build a mobile cabinet out of plywood to house a pc, monitor, smallish cnc and bits n bobs so that I can move the whole lot around easily and also cut down on noise and chips flying everywhere. The whole lot should weigh less than 40kg. As the cabinet will be in the house it can't be too cheap looking so am wanting to use russian birch. Size wise probably around 60dx70wx110h cm, with top, bottom, back and 2 brace pieces in the middle, one of which will support the cnc..

    To keep both cost and overall weight down I would like to use 12mm ply rather than 18mm which is commonly used for furniture cabinets. I *think* this will be strong enough (given it's russian birch) but am a relative newcomer to woodworking and so am looking for advice on this.
    Rocketwizz, at 700mm wide a quality ply such as that in 12mm will be amply strong (6mm would be strong enough but you need the 12mm for stiffness). Just ensure you run the face grains in the 700 direction.

    Regards, Timboz

  4. #3
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    Default

    Thanks for the advice Timboz, but I'm a little unclear on what you wrote.

    I should cut the pieces such that the grain runs top to bottom on the side/back panels and left to right on the brace (top/middle/bottom) panels, right?

  5. #4
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    Just be careful when cutting ply as it tends to tear out along the cut.

    The more teeth on your blade the better - say 70teeth.

    Also I have found that deeply scoring the cut line with a very sharp marking
    knife and carefully cutting to the line is a good method to avoid tear out.

    If you are unsure of cutting you could draw up your cutting list and take it to a
    kitchen cabinetmaker and have them cut it on their panel saw.

  6. #5
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    Default

    Thanks for the tip Artme! I'll make sure to run a few test cuts before committing to the actual, fortunately I have an 80t blade which should do the job.

  7. #6
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    Default Grain direction

    Quote Originally Posted by rocketwiz View Post
    Thanks for the advice Timboz, but I'm a little unclear on what you wrote.

    I should cut the pieces such that the grain runs top to bottom on the side/back panels and left to right on the brace (top/middle/bottom) panels, right?
    Grain direction in the sides and back doesn't matter so much as they are loading the panel on edge (the panel is acting like a verandah post) so run it any direction. Any element that is loaded like a shelf should have the grain running in the longest direction (like a solid timber shelf) to maximize stiffness in that direction.
    Regards , Timboz

  8. #7
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    Default

    Got it, thanks again timboz.

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