WOOD Magazine – October 01, 2019

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solid-wood edging because it offers these

advantages:

■ Durable. The added thickness of solid-

wood edging resists chipping better than

fragile veneer edging. And today’s wood-

working glues hold much better than the

heat-activated adhesive on the back of

veneer tape.

■ Economical. Cut strips of edging from those

long off-cut scraps you can’t use for anything

else. And if you run out, a single plank yields

enough edging for a raft of shelves.

■ Stiff. Adding a hardwood edge, especially

one wider than a plywood or MDF shelf ’s

thickness, stiffens it to reduce sagging—a

potential downside to using sheet goods.

Make your own edging

You’ve got two choices here. The simplest is

to rip and then glue solid-wood strips to the

plywood or MDF edges with a common butt

joint, shown above left. In 3' or shorter

lengths of^3 ∕ 4 " plywood this joint will be

plenty strong. When you go this route, make

an effort to match the edging’s grain pattern

and color to the panel’s veneer because you

want the transition to be unnoticeable.

Make the edging as thick as you want. Wider

and thicker edging, shown above right, adds

greater stability for project parts, such as

bookcase shelves, that might sag when

weighted down with books or collectibles.

Specialty edging bits add

mechanical advantages

Some router-bit manufacturers make two-

piece V-groove and tongue-and-groove edging

sets [Sources], shown below, that create self-cen-

tering, mating joints. They provide greater

glue surface and assemble quicker than butt

joints, which can slide around on wet glue.

These joints prove ideal for edging not just

shelves, but also case sides because you can set

them to rout crisp veneer-like edges (see

“f lush” examples below) that make it easy to

hide the seam of a solid-wood edge. For

greater strength that will ward off shelf sag-

ging, increase the thickness of the edging.

Basic Edging Strength Builder

V-groove bits Flush V-groove edging Thick V-groove edging

Tongue-and-groove bits Flush tongue-and-groove edging Thick tongue-and-groove edging

Thin, simple edging (above) holds firmly and

hides plywood edges. But wider edging (right)

adds support against sagging.

Learn how to apply

adhesive-backed

veneer tape to sheet

goods.

woodmagazine.com/

edgebanding

Learn finishing

tips for matching

solid-wood edging to

veneered sheet goods.

woodmagazine.com/

blendband