Show off your wood working skills.

Make a header out of plywood ?

 

That's my thinking, more dimensionally stable. I want to rip 8" strips of plywood, screw it to the top of the studs on either side, support the ends, then cut off the studs. Right now, I'm thinking 3 layers of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed to either side of the studs would be more than enough but just want some sort of load chart to check my thinking. The span is 10' and it only supports the floor above (house is balloon framed so none of the roof load goes through what I'm messing with).

 

Here are a few of mine.

- A 9 foot tall cabinet for the garage. (painted pine with unpainted tempered panels)

- Other garage cabinets. (MDF painted to look like mahogany with flat black pine trim)

- Some tables. Kids game table (checkered) is maple. Hall table (under mirror) is anigre. Narrow high top is yellow pine. Butcher block style dining table is unknown wood. I got the top cheap and just did some minor repairs and stained it. Legs of it are painted maple.

- Pair of book cases. (sapelle & maple)

- Library (mahogany & maple) It's currently 8 ft tall and 9 ft wide. Eventually I'll add another 2ft on top and then mirror them on the opposite wall of the room.

- A mirror frame. (maple with mahogany trim)

- A gun cabinet (red gum). Originally had all hidden hardware and secret lock. Door was too heavy for hidden hinges though so now has more traditional hinges and keyed lock.

 

Why not just install a regular dimensional lumber header ?

 

Wood turner here. This is a mortar/pestle I made for my pharmacist daughter-in-law.

 

I figured plywood on edge would be stiffer and the dimensional lumber around here is junk. They tend to warp a lot.

 

8' plywood isn't going to be as effective for a 10' span

You could also consider LVL

 

Even if you glue and screw 3 pieces? I figured if I stagger the joints it would work. I can use dimensional lumber, just figured the plywood would be stiffer and less prone to sagging as long as I use enough of it. I'm basically going to make a built up lvl, sort of.

 

Well , I don't know of a table for built up plywood beams , if it was me I would go with a kiln dried dimensional header or an LVL

 

Thanks for the input, I'll look into lvls or see if I can find a better lumber yard around me. The ones I've found so far aren't very good. They cut everything really green, dry it fast, then it all sits outside.

 

See if you can get kiln dried Fir or bite the bullet and go LVL

 

Will do. Thanks for the help.

 

Bought a Kreg K5 and some clamps. DIY here I come..

Hopefully.

 

The Kreg jigs are awesome! I love mine, very easy to use.

 

Hoping to put it to good use, trying to think of a small first time project so we get acquainted.

 

I travel to Wilmington nc about twice a year. But try woodnet or lumberjocks forums.

 

Nice to see someone still knows how to brace a gate correctly. I swear to god, even a moron has a 50% chance of getting it right, and most of the time I see it wrong. Sadly, at houses I buy, too.