Sometimes plywood is the best option for a project due to cost or stability. The only problem is the exposed plywood edge… so here are a few methods to cover up that ply!

Check out the full build video below!

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The easiest method is iron on edge banding you can purchase. I personally don’t love the stuff for heavy use projects, so I’m going skip over that one.

Sometimes you might find thin veneer edge banding is the best option for a project, but it might be hard to find edge banding that matches the plywood you are working with. So, if you are looking for an easy way to get some matching veneer edge banding for a specific project, here is a cool way to do it…

#1 - Thin Veneer Edge Banding

Raise your table saw blade so it’s slightly higher than the thickness of the plywood you want to cover.

Then move the fence so the blade will cut right underneath the veneer layer of the plywood.

Take a scrap from the project your working on, and cut away!

You can see in the picture below that the blade is cutting right underneath the top veneer on the plywood.

Cut it loose with a utility knife.

Now you have a matching veneer for the wood species of plywood you are working with!

Just glue it on and use some tape as a clamp to hold it in place as the glue dries. It may also be a good idea to use a clamping caul here for even pressure along the board.

After the glue dries, you can trim the excess and you’re done.

The best part about this method is you have the exact color match for the plywood you are using so it’s a very seamless look. Wood colors vary even within the same species. So this is a great option when you can’t find edge banding that matches your specific plywood.

I would only use this for projects that won’t see heavy use since I don’t see this as being particularly strong. Let’s move on to something stronger…

#2 - Simple Hard Wood Edge Banding

The next method is even simpler, hard wood edge banding.

Mill some stock to be slightly thicker than the plywood you are using. Then rip a strip that’s 1/4” wide.

You can try to match the plywood by using the same wood species or use a different kind of wood to add contrast.

Then again, simply glue it on and you can use tape as clamps.

Once it’s dry you can trim it to final size and flush it up so it’s the same thickness as the plywood.

You can do this with a flush trim bit or a block plane.

This is a great option and I have used this for many projects.

While this is a lot stronger than the thin veneer edge banding, I think we can make this stronger by adding some joinery to the mix…

#3 - Tongue and Groove Edge Banding

This method can be done on the router table like I did, or you can use a dado blade at the table saw.

I used a 1/4” slot cutting bit to make the groove in the plywood first.

Raise the bit so it is cutting in the center of the ply and adjust the fence so 1/4” of the bit is sticking out. This will create a 1/4” deep 1/4” wide groove in the center of the plywood edge.

Next step is to make the tongue in the hard wood.

Lower the bit so when it cuts on both faces of the wood, it leaves a 1/4” tongue in the middle of the board. You can do a few test cuts to make sure the bit is at the right height.

Before cutting, nudge the fence ever so slightly towards to bit, maybe just 1/32, just to leave some room for glue when you glue it up.

Then make two passes on both faces of the board to create the tongue in the center of the hard wood.

It’s best to leave the board extra wide when doing this because it is safer to work with larger pieces at the router table.

After the tongue is cut, you can trim it to final width at the table saw.

Because the tongue and groove lock into place, the glue up goes really smoothly.

Another great thing about this joint for edge banding is you can cut it to any width you want and add some sort of edge detail or profile. In the picture below, I cut a deep bevel into the edging, but with this method you can add any edge detailing you want, like a round over or an ogee.

I love how strong this method is. That hard wood is going to stay in place because of the joinery and it’s great that you can add details to the edges.

I see two downsides to this method.

1 - It’s not completely seamless. You will see the joint if you look up close.

2 - It might be time consuming to adjust the router bit to get the perfect fitting tongue… which leads me to the next method…

#4 - Splined Edge Banding

This method is the same basic idea as Tongue and Groove, except instead of making the tongue on the hard wood, you make a matching groove in the hardwood.

Then you can rip a 1/4” thick piece of plywood into a 1/2” wide strip to fit in between both of the grooves.

After gluing it up this is just as strong as the tongue and groove, but it takes half the amount of time to make because you don’t have to change the router bit (or dado blade) setting at all, and you only have to make one pass on the hard wood instead of two. There is the extra step of ripping the 1/4” plywood though…

This is just like the tongue and groove so it has the same same positives and negatives.

It’s great because it’s strong and you can add any edge profile you want.

Downside, you will see the seam at close inspection, so it will not look like a solid board… Let’s try something that could be strong yet seamless….

#5 - V-Groove Edge Banding

This method would typically be done at the router table with a v-groove bit or a specialty router bit set (Here’s a video explaining how to do this with a v-groove bit - Stumpy Nubs Edge Banding Video). I don’t have the correct bit, so here’s a way to do it at the table saw.

Tilt the table saw blade to about 30 degrees or so. and keep making passes on both faces of the board until there is a point on the edge.

You may want to leave this point a tiny bit flat just to leave some room for glue.

Do not change the angle of the blade!

Do make sure the tip of the blade is just as high as the middle of the point you made in the previous step.

To make the matching v-groove in the plywood, you will need to set up a sacrificial fence.

If your blade tilts to the left and your fence is on the right, like mine, you want to set the sacrificial fence so the left point of the tooth is in line with the face of the sacrificial fence right at the point where it is coming out of the throat plate.

Run the sacrificial fence and stop half way through the cut

Clamp down the sacrificial fence and pass the plywood through on both faces to create the v-groove shape on the edge.

It doesn’t matter at what angle your blade was set to, as long as you didn’t change the angle from step 1, the two parts will fit nicely together.

What’s cool about this method, is after you glue it up, you can trim the excess right up to the edge of the plywood to make it a really seamless look.

This joint will be plenty strong because of the surface area in the v-groove joint and it will also be seamless. I think this is a much better option than typical iron on veneer edge banding, but the table saw set up might be a bit cumbersome… The correct v-groove bit would definitely be easier.

#6 - Edge Banding Router Bit Set

This method combines the strength of the Tongue and Groove with the seamlessness of the V-Groove using a set of two router bits.

The first bit makes the tongue and the 30 degree v-groove in the hardwood in one pass.

Set the bit height so the part that cuts the tongue will be in the center of your board and set the fence so it’s in line with where the tongue will be cut as well.

This can be done in one pass, again I left the material extra wide here so it is safer to handle at the router table, it will be cut to width later.

Then swap out to the other bit in the set that makes the matching groove and the 30 degree v-groove cuts.

Use the tongue you just cut to set the correct bit height.

Then make the cut in the edge of the plywood.

This might take a few test cuts to get the correct fence position. It also might be a good idea to double stick tape a straight edge to the top of the plywood so it is fully supported on the fence. There is such a thin veneer left over from this cut, it’s better to have something stronger for the piece to ride along on the out feed fence.

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see how strong this joint will be because of the tongue and groove. Also, how I was able to cut right up the edge of the plywood to make a seamless look because of the 30 degree angles built into the joint. This is by far my favorite alternative to thin veneer edge banding!

This was such a fun experiment!

Moving forward I am going to use the Edge Banding Bit set if I want a seamless look and the tongue and groove if I need to add a profile to the edge… but I’m sure the other options will be put to use as well!