# Wood Grain direction



## wydors (Oct 27, 2011)

I am working on a built-in entertainment center. My basic box that will house the TV and that will fit into the existing hole in the wall is just over 5' wide and about 5.5' tall. My plan is to build the sides of the box with 3/4" ply and have a 1/4" ply back. It seems to me that the woodgrain should go up and down. However, that doesn't work with a 4'x8' sheet of plywood.

So, my question is: Do I run the grain side to side or use two pieces going up and down? If I use 2 pieces, does it give me the structural integrity that I need? Will the dividing point between 2 sheets be very obvious? If so, any tips on hiding that?

Thanks much!


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

If it were my project I'd rather have grain side to side than a seam up the middle.

Are you going to stain or paint?
.


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## wydors (Oct 27, 2011)

*wood grain*

The project is going to be stained. 

I was originally planning to run the 1/4" lengthwise but then I thought the grain might look better going up and down. There will be another piece sitting inside this one and the horizontal surface of it will have the grain running side to side. (I've attached another sketch - the bottom portion is going to have drawers, etc.)

Thanks for the input.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That's a dilemma that is difficult to deal with. I usually run vertical sections with grain vertical, and horizontal sections horizontally. Design wise, it may be more appealing to run grain continuously vertical through a bank of drawers, than horizontally.

For backs I always run the grain vertically, and with 1/4" plywood, I join them with a fairly wide glued half lap joint. For those applications that I can't get two lengths out of a rip, I bite the bullet and wind up with some scrap. I just cut whatever I need and what's left over is left over.










 







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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

i've successfully edge glued 1/4" ply for backs just as you're saying. take some time getting as clean an edge as you possibly can, with a good grain color match. there is usually glue up joints on ply anyway. the glue up requires a large flat surface, and some light clamping. if you center the glue line, the tv will hide most of it.


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## wydors (Oct 27, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> For backs I always run the grain vertically, and with 1/4" plywood, I join them with a fairly wide glued shiplap joint. For those applications that I can't get two lengths out of a rip, I bite the bullet and wind up with some scrap. I just cut whatever I need and what's left over is left over.
> 
> 
> .


So, I did a quick search on shiplap joints. My understanding is that these joints are like siding I would by for a shed or something - basically, the edge of each piece is half the thickness of the rest of the piece. The right edge would have only the back half and the left edge would have only the front half (or vice versa). Am I correct here?

Would you do this with a router? I've never used a router, but I do have a friend with a router table. If I had the correct bit, maybe I could make this happen. Suggestions on bit and setup?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

wydors said:


> So, I did a quick search on shiplap joints. My understanding is that these joints are like siding I would by for a shed or something - basically, the edge of each piece is half the thickness of the rest of the piece. The right edge would have only the back half and the left edge would have only the front half (or vice versa). Am I correct here?
> 
> Would you do this with a router? I've never used a router, but I do have a friend with a router table. If I had the correct bit, maybe I could make this happen. Suggestions on bit and setup?


Note...I changed "ship lap to half lap. Depending on your skills and size of the stock it can be done on the table saw. I do them with a router. You would need to use some type of clamped down straight edge, and a straight faced router bit AKA "mortising bit" (width that is applicable). More than one pass may be necessary depending on the width of the lap. I use this shop made jig.










 







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## wydors (Oct 27, 2011)

Thanks! I think I'll go play with my table saw and some scraps of 1/4"! :thumbsup:


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## kpo101 (Aug 5, 2011)

Is that 1/4" plywood thick enough to hold up that flat panel TV? Or is it not going to hang on the back wall like the picture shows?


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## wydors (Oct 27, 2011)

kpo101 said:


> Is that 1/4" plywood thick enough to hold up that flat panel TV? Or is it not going to hang on the back wall like the picture shows?


It will hang on the back, but the mount will be attached to the 2x4s in the cubby this unit is going in. Actually, I am going to place some horizontal 2x4s between the vertical ones so that I can center the mount. This piece of the unit is mostly to cover up the hole in the wall and hold up the trim pieces. Thanks for the concern. This is the kind of thing I need pointed out to me.

Weird - my picture posted sideways. Tilt your head to the left to see what it actually looks like.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I would run the grain on the back verticle. Your TV will do most of the hiding. I've edge glued 1/4" plywood and laminated 1/4" plywood strips to the back to re-enforce the joint. You just need to cut off the factory edge and glue fresh edges together. After sanding and finishing it just looks like a normal seam in the veneers. I've also put a foot wide piece of laminate over the back side of the seam. You could also put a piece of thin flat molding if it doesn't interfere with the TV mount.


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