MDF to Baltic Birch-- different blade for cutting? (1 Viewer)

[KyleGS]

Hey- I'm going to "make-over" my ported HE12.1's. I've upgraded/tweaked the x-over to my liking. Now I have to make these huge black boxes look better.

#1---I'm going to go with 3/4" Baltic Birch.
I have a heavy duty Makita circ saw with a sawboard . I want to know what kind of blade and what tooth blade would be best as to not splinter the BB plywood.

#2---I plan on using a flush trim router bit to make most joints perfect. I will over-cut the front and sides per 1/4". Will the router bit create any splinters?

LASTLY- I want to use a glue that when if it touches the wood - it will not affect the staining process. Any suggestions? Titebond I, Liq Nails, Elmers Wood Glue?


Thanks guys-

My current HE12's - two pages BTW

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I think each of these glues are going to have some impact on the staining process -- unless you fully sand the glue off before the staining process. However, you could use a small brush to apply the glue to the joints of the wood to apply it more consistantly and evenly to minimize the amount of glue squeezing out of the joints.

 

[Pete Mazz]

The best blade for plywood is probably an ATB (Alternate Top Bevel). It'll produce less tearout on the crossgrain cuts. One foolproof way to get a clean cut is to make one pass with the blade set at ~1/8" deep, then make another pass to cut thru.

Flush trim router bits usually make a mess of a plywood edge. Just cut the parts true and assemble.

Use wood glue and immediately wipe off any excess with a clean wet rag. Keep a bucket of warm water nearby and continually clean the rag of glue.

Pete

 

[Rob Formica]

I basically used almost the same techniques as Pete on both the cutting and glueing. I used a ATB blade BUT with a single pass on 3/4" Baltic birch plywood with no major difficulties. I actually found the wood pretty good from a veneer splintering aspect. For the glueing same exact method and I had no related problems with staining.

The only thing I’d like to add is the fact that birch absorbs stain unevenly.. it’s the nature of the wood. Either you embrace the look or you use a pre-stain to even the porosity.

Good luck..
Rob

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Why use 3/4 if your just laminating a box that is sound. Use 1/4. Another eay to get around the glue problem is to run masking tape flush with the edge and remove this about 10 minutes after clamping. As for the oversize then flush trim- thats a great technique but 1/4 overhang is too much. The flush trim bit will labor removing that much material. Make the overcut in the 1/16 to 1/8 range. Trim in several passes skimming the overhang before a final pass where you lean with the bearing. It will only splinter if the bit is dull.

 

[Allen Ross]

I used the method of over cutting and using the flush trim bit on my Pis and they came out very nicely and flush, my only regret is that I set the bit a 1/4 inch to low so it took very small splinters of the board that i wasn't meant to cut. So set the depth just so the barring rests on the board beneath not a bit more I took a 1/4 inch off on my Pis i just made sure that i took multiple passes and not to take much off.

For a blade that i used, it was a regular delwalt cir blade that i got from HD for 10 bucks, and it worked amazingly well.

I used tightbond and just sanded the hell out of it, even though i just polyied, i would def recommend getting some glue brushes so the glue even and the squirt isn't a sever.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I've had good luck using blue painters tape over the area i'm cutting to eliminate chipping. This allows me to make my cuts in one pass (as opposed to 2) and to keep my blade set at the same height.

 

[Dennis XYZ]

Good advice so far. One thing about yellow glue. The wet rag method works but, with some wood, there's the potential for the water to soak a bit of glue into the wood if you aren't careful. I've found it easier to let the glue dry until it's gummy but not hard and then just scrape it off with a sharp chisel. By then, you can usually pop the clamps off one at a time for a few seconds, scrape under them and put them back on.

 

[KyleGS]

I appreciate it. I've got a lot of good ideas to go on.


How much is the ATB blade? Is it a specialty blade?

Last question- is is generally true that the more teeth per blade the smoother the cut? (for plywood)