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Home » Build It » How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges

April 14, 2017 Brittany Bailey 8 Comments

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How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Recently I’ve been working on building drawers for our pantry. The material I chose to use is finish grade plywood. Plywood is strong, but unfortunately it has a raw edge that isn’t the most attractive side of the wood. No problem, it can be covered. You could use wood putty to smooth the raw edges of the plywood, but you won’t get perfect results and it is only recommended if you are going to paint your plywood. Instead, I have a solution for you on How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges to give you a more professional look. In fact, some people may not be able to tell it was plywood to begin with!

This is an easy tutorial and requires no power tools (unless you consider an iron a power tool.) You will need to purchase veneer edging for this project. Don’t worry if your edging is wider than your lumber, we’ll fix that. Ready to learn How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges? Let’s get this project heated up.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

  • Veneer Edging
  • Edge Trimmer
  • Scissors
  • Aluminum foil
  • Iron
  • Sanding sponge

Instructions:

Pre-heat your iron on the cotton setting. Measure the length of your veneer edging on your plywood. (Do not cross your edging over any joints. Keep the veneer piece the same length as the cut wood.) Cut the excess off.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Rip off a piece of foil the length of the plywood or at least the length of your iron. Lay the edge veneer on top of the plywood edge. Lay the aluminum foil between the veneer edging and the iron. Press the iron to heat up the glue on the underside of the edging. Keep moving the iron so as not to scorch the wood. Usually 30 seconds is all you need to activate the glue.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

After the entire edge veneer has been glued, use a flat edge on the trimming tool to burnish the veneer firmly onto the raw plywood edge. If any areas still aren’t glued, reheat and repeat the process on that spot.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Turn the trimmer tool and run it along the side of your plywood to trim off the excess edging. You may need to make a few passes to remove all the excess veneer.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Sand the edges smooth and remove any rough spots.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Check it out, you are done and your plywood looks like it was solid wood not plywood!

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

If you learn better watching a video, you’ll appreciate that I made a Facebook Live video to show you How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges:

Don’t forget to Follow Me on YouTube for more tutorial and tip videos. I’m always bringing you along as I work. 😉

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Now that you know this trick, you can build anything using plywood and finish off those raw edges.

How to Finish Raw Plywood Edges | Pretty Handy Girl

Until next time, enjoy fooling people with your clean finished edges on plywood. No one has to know that it’s not solid wood. 😉

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Comments

  1. Laura says

    April 15, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    Will you be posting how to build the drawers? Please!

    Reply
  2. Rich says

    April 15, 2017 at 12:52 am

    Very interesting site. And I love the name, very clever! Keep up the good writing!

    Reply
  3. Barb says

    April 14, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    Your drawer looks great! Thanks for sharing this tip with us amateurs! Plywood is very durable and heavy, so this veneer will finish the job off correctly.

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

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