Plywood vs. solid wood

[Richo B]

This is of course is an old question but I'm asking it in reference to a specific project I'm gearing up to start.

I'm going to make a rolling caddy for helping me both at home and at work.

The idea behind it is to have something that is only about 28" high to hold tools while I'm either working at my bench at home or working on large pieces of furniture at work such as a sideboard or sofa on sawhorses. My caddy would feature a chisel box in the back in which chisels and other handled tools could fit into slots. This would resolve an issue I discovered at home when I cut my hand reaching under my bench top with a chisel fitted through the dog holes. The chisel box will be self-contained with a top that can be removed in order to clean it out from time to time. Then there is a 2 inch deep tray on top to place tools and a cubby-hole below that. Then there are two drawers for storing additional tools. One thought I had was to use one of the drawer slots to hold the rabbet plane box I've been meaning to make. It actually would become a special plane box that would hold not only the rabbet plane but also the two router planes, shoulder planes and the small trim plane. This is not meant to be a tool box as I already have that. This is something to hold various tools at the level in which I am working so I'm not placing them on the workbench or the floor.

Originally I had planned to do this with EW Pine but the dimensions of each side of the caddy (15 x 28") require that if using the solid wood that I must join two pieces together for each side, as I tend to use 12" wide boards. So then I was considering doing this with plywood which was what I had considered originally. I should state that this is not a fancy woodworking project. I'm not looking to make something that will win a beauty contest or last for generations. My wife has full permission to "throw" my stuff out in the trash if I die before her. What I am looking to build is something that I can use at home but take to work if I need it there. Eventually I may make something for use at work but time is not something I have a lot of what with covering not only my work schedule but several other positions as well. There just isn't time for pleasure projects there. So the question is would plywood be heavier than EWP solid wood? Secondly can one make the carcass of the plywood and make the shelves and other parts of solid wood? In other words can they be combined and co-mingle?

 

[Graywolf]

Richo, either option are solid. I look at this way, which material do you have that will do the job and that will cost the least amount of money and will deliver the product you want. That's it. They each have their pros and cons so that leaves the ball in your court and I for one want to see pics of the finished product.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

For a shop project like that I would definitely go w/ plywood. Probably the birch veneer, or Sandply. You won't have to worry about wood movement and it will be very sturdy.

And yes, plywood and solid wood can certainly be combined. I often cover a plywood edge w/ a strip of solid wood. In this cart you could easily use solid wood for the drawer fronts, or the top.

 

[Raymond]

A question about the design, Richo. If this rolling caddy is going to be transported between shop and work, I assume you will be rolling this into a van or truck an that it will be secured while being transported. I would still worry about the occasional hard bumps that bounce our vehicles and some of the shorter length chisels could bounce out of the the box. What about a hinged top on the caddy to help hold down the chisels? Just my my $0.02.

 

[Jim M.]

I'd make the cases out of plywood and the shelves, top and drawer faces out of solid wood. I made similar cart for a friend's wife for her sewing machine. I painted the plywood with a thinned down red water-based latex enamel paint, almost like a stain, put a clear Waterlox to seal it and the maple top and shelf and it looked great.

 

[Richo B]

A question about the design, Richo. If this rolling caddy is going to be transported between shop and work, I assume you will be rolling this into a van or truck an that it will be secured while being transported. I would still worry about the occasional hard bumps that bounce our vehicles and some of the shorter length chisels could bounce out of the the box. What about a hinged top on the caddy to help hold down the chisels? Just my my $0.02.

Remember this isn't a tool box so the chisels won't be in it for storage or transport. They only exist in the caddy while working on something. And it could be screwdrivers or other handled tools as well. As for transport it will be thrown in the back of my Kia Sportage and transported that way.

I made a stool years ago out of plywood and have taken that to work many times for this sort of use because it has a shelf under the seat. Got plans from Family Handyman. I'm thinking the caddy will be in the same league as that stool was so sounds like plywood can be a winner. This is supposed to be a quick summer project. Its hot out in the garage down here in Coastal Carolina and I don't want to be messing around with dovetails or other fancy joinery. I leave that stuff for the other less hot months.

 

[Willemjm]

For a shop project like that I would definitely go w/ plywood. Probably the birch veneer, or Sandply. You won't have to worry about wood movement and it will be very sturdy.

And yes, plywood and solid wood can certainly be combined. I often cover a plywood edge w/ a strip of solid wood. In this cart you could easily use solid wood for the drawer fronts, or the top.

+100

 

[Stuart Kent]

Richo, either option are solid. I look at this way, which material do you have that will do the job and that will cost the least amount of money and will deliver the product you want. That's it. They each have their pros and cons so that leaves the ball in your court and I for one want to see pics of the finished product.

couldn't have said it better

 

[Jeff]

I'm not disagreeing with all of the recommendations.

So the question is would plywood be heavier than EWP solid wood?

Yes, 3/4" BB ply vs 3/4" EWP is heavier, but 1/2" t BB ply is about the same weight as 3/4" EWP.

A single 28 x 15 panel side...

Lbs.	3/4"	1/2"
EWC	4.6
BB	7.2	4.7

As for transport it will be thrown in the back of my Kia Sportage and transported that way.

It doesn't have to be built like a tank for your dual use/locations so be kind to your back and make it a lightweight item. Sure, you can mix and match ply with solid wood.

 

[Richo B]

Jeff - that is some very useful information you posted there. I'll have to jot that down. I think what I will do is have the sides and back be plywood and the rest of it will be EWP. There will still be some weight but I don't want to deal with joining sides of EWP and it needs to be somewhat rugged on the outside edges. Also I don't really want to be finishing those large surfaces of the exterior.

Thanks for all the helpful information.

 

[bob vaughan]

I''ll also pile on to what others have said about plywood being preferred. Assuming solid lumber will be the same moisture content as plywood will be a flawed assumption. Stuff from the big box stores is generally 15%. An 11-1/4" piece of pine will dry down to household 8% and lose maybe a 3/16" of width. On a coset shelf this is no big deal, but when parts are joined at right angles and constrained by other components, there's always going to be a high risk of shrinkage problem with off-the-rack wood. Letting the wood sit in a controlled environment or several months will usually decrease the risk some.

The advantage of solid lumber is that your joinery doesn't have to be as precise. Misaligned joints can be scrubbed even with a belt sander or hand plane.

 

[Richo B]

I started this project last weekend. I went with almost entirely plywood construction. I was able to get some good 1/2 inch birch plywood for it. The carcass was completed last week and weather permitting (meaning not too sweltering in the garage) I hope to do a lot more work this weekend to complete it. Still haven't decided how to construct the drawers. I don't want them to be too time consuming.

 

[Hmerkle]

I started this project last weekend. I went with almost entirely plywood construction. I was able to get some good 1/2 inch birch plywood for it. The carcass was completed last week and weather permitting (meaning not too sweltering in the garage) I hope to do a lot more work this weekend to complete it. Still haven't decided how to construct the drawers. I don't want them to be too time consuming.

Don't believe it - didn't happen - no pictures! :wwink:

Just kidding, but seriously, many of us want to see (at least) the finished product, if not some WIP! (this being a GREAT idea!)

 

[Joe Scharle]

I built one very similar to what you're planning a few years ago. This one is mostly plywood, with trim and web frames from solid scrap. The primary reason for building it anyway, was to to see if I could make a substantial roll-around shop box using only pocket screws. Ten years or more and it's still solid. Even the drawers.

​

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[Richo B]

Don't believe it - didn't happen - no pictures! :wwink:

Just kidding, but seriously, many of us want to see (at least) the finished product, if not some WIP! (this being a GREAT idea!)

No pictures because its not done yet. I'll be at a point to take photos tomorrow. I just wanted to update the thread to keep it going. I got quite a bit done today but need to put it all together tomorrow.

 

[Richo B]

It is complete.

The two lower shelves are where drawers will eventually go. But for now the caddy is complete because it can fulfill the purpose for which I made it. The smaller shelf will probably get an actual drawer. The lower space will be where my rabbet plane box will go. Actually it will be a briefcase style box that will hold the smaller planes including rabbet, two routers, trim, shoulder, bullnose and their accessories.

This is just a modeled photo to see what I could put on the caddy at one time. I can't imagine a time when I would have this many tools on it at once. I wanted to be sure it wouldn't tip over or have any mobility issues. The spot where the chisels fit in is a box. The top is removable so I can clean out the box or use it for an additional tool tray as seen below.

Set up for assembly work

It fits nicely in the back of Kia, without putting seats down, for taking to work

And it stores easily in my garage. The fact that the wheels straddle the bottom of my workbench was not planned but a very nice bonus. I thought I would have to store it on its top.

 

[bowman]

Looks great Richo. I may have to build one myself, although my work in IT doesn't require these tools (some days that wouldn't be a bad option though!).

 

[Richo B]

Wanted to add a couple photos of the drawer. I built the drawer this past weekend. There are slots for two drawers but I'm going to leave it with one. The lower drawer slot will be filled with a briefcase style box that will hold my rabbet plane and other specialty planes. I'm considering that as a project on its own that will just happen to fit in the caddy when out in the workshop. Otherwise it will live in the cabinet under the counter in the laundry room with the Dutch chest. The lower drawer slot could also be filled with things like a circular saw or other larger tool that wouldn't fit in the top tray or cubby hole.

 

[Richo B]

So I've used this now a couple times this month while doing projects out in the garage. I've found that it is becoming a tool box of sorts. I have a Dutch chest that resides in the laundry room and is carried out to the garage only when I'm doing woodworking which might only be during the weekend any given week. Then I built a tool tote to carry the heavier tools out to the garage so the Dutch chest won't weigh so much. Well now that I have the caddy, unless I'm doing a big job, I tend to carry the tools I need out to the garage in the tote and then put them into the caddy, leaving the Dutch chest in the house. I did once have the Dutch chest out in the garage and took the tools I needed out and put them right into the caddy. But it appears the best way to keep the tools dry (especially now during the tropical season), is to bring out what I need and put them right into the caddy (in the chisel box, or top tray or top cubby. Haven't had need for the drawer yet.

Interesting how some projects evolve from one thing to another. Last year my big project was the Dutch Chest but the Tool Tote was the most used and versatile thing I made, being useful for both WWing, DIY and Gardening. I even put my harvested food in it when I'm out in the garden. So this year's big project is the chest of drawers I'm doing for the dutch chest but I think the rolling caddy will be the most successful and versatile item I make because of its many uses, and primarily being a temporary tool chest in the garage which as I said above was not its intended purpose.

 

[Bill_In_Asheville]

Brilliant idea. Stuff always piles up where you don't need it, on top of things you need.