During the last Wood Talk Online podcast, Marc Spagunolo, Matt Vanderlist and Shannon Rogers were having an interesting debate.
Does plywood have a place in fine woodworking projects? Should all projects considered master works be completely devoid of plywood, or is it OK, to have non-visible parts (backs, drawer bottoms, etc) made if it? Should it even matter?
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Have we ever really determined what ‘fine’ woodworking is? (0%, 0 Votes)
This one did not register???
To me, plywood in a “master” class project would be a rare thing and used only if the properties of plywood would answer some construction delima, and not simply for convenience.
Bob – I’ll add your vote…not sure what’s going on with the polling app…
I suppose we’re also making a distinction between purchased and made plywood? (i.e. laminate molding with veneers.)
I think if good epoxy had been available a couple of centuries earlier, this wouldn’t be a question…
In discussions such as this, it seem that “fine woodworking” always ends up being defined as requiring some kind of anachronism. The debate never seems to end: can you use modern materials, techniques, or tools that didn’t exist 50, 100, or 200 years ago. We should try to remember that all those craftsmen whom we might regard as the foundations of woodworking, the titans of their respective day, never hesitated to use the contemporary technology available at their time. I mean, do you think that anybody faulted Gustav Stickley if he used one-of-them-thar-newfangled Bailey planes?
I believe that a “master” project would benefit greatly from more stable elements. If the piece can look the same or even better yet last even longer thanks to modern glues, plywoods, joinery techniques, etc., then wouldn’t a true “master” use the best possible materials and methods to create his masterpiece?
I believe that these master craftsmen of yesteryear used the best modern techniques and materials available to them. Do we think that the craftsmen of the 1700’s were trying to use only tools which had been used in 100 AD?
It is my belief that too many great craftsmen of our time obsess over doing it the old way. Granted, I have a personal aversion to employing some modern materials like MDF for some applications, but this is due to the properties of the materiel not out of nostalgia.
I also would like to add to Peter’s comment in that if you think about it, any veneered piece is by definition plywood anyway. This was done often to make good use of great wood, but also to provide stability and strength. Today’s craftsmen should embrace the great of centuries past and the great of today. Why limit yourself?