WOODWORKING
When cutting plywood, it is important to plan your cuts so you don’t waste wood. Moreover, careful
attention to the direction of the grain and how it relates to your project is equally important. Having one side
panel with the grain running horizontally and another side panel with the grain running vertically would be
poor craftsmanship.
Simply draw a sheet of plywood to scale (a smaller version of the plywood). Then, draw the parts of your
project and the location from which they will be cut out of the plywood – make certain these parts are also
drawn to scale. Also, be sure to pay attention to the direction you want the grain to go on each part.
Because plywood is large and difficult to maneuver, when cutting out your parts it is best to make your
first cut oversized (cut bigger than you need). Later, you will cut the pieces to the exact dimension. For
example, the exact size of the finished side panels we need for our bookcase is 11¼” x 59¼”. When we cut
our shelves out of the plywood, however, we will make our first cut 12”x60” (see side A below). Then,
when the oversized pieces are all cut, we will set our table saw fence and cut our shelves to the exact size we
need.
When all is said and done, your drawing will look like this:
Back
36”x 60”¼” Oak plywood
Grain directionSide A
12”x 60”¾” Oak plywood
Grain directionSide B
12”x 60”Top
12”x 36”Bottom
12”x 36”Shelf 1
12”x 36”Shelf 2
12”x 36”Shelf 3
12”x 36”Unit I: Project Preparation