Weldwood Flexible Wood-Trim is sold in 8-foot rolls, packed in a handy container.

Old, time-consuming methods of trimming plywood edges are out; now a flexible wood trim does the job without fuss or trouble.

Where plywood is used for the main construction of a piece of furni­ture, the problem of concealing the unat­tractive plywood edges can be handled either by covering it with solid wood trim, or with U. S. Plywood Corporation's new Weldwood Flexible Wood-Trim.

Both methods have their advantages. The flexible Wood-Trim is available in ma­hogany, oak, walnut, birch and Korina to match the most popular plywood faces. The veneer is only 1/58 inch thick, and is mounted on a latex-impregnated paper backing. Wood-Trim can be cut easily with scissors, knife or razor blade and fastened with any high-quality glue or other wood adhesive. In the projects featured in this book, Weldwood Contact Cement was used. No heat or clamping is required, and its quality of immediate bonding allows a quick follow-up sanding of the piece for fast construction.

Other advantages are that no machine cutting is required, and no time-consuming miter joints must be made. The trim matches the plywood surfaces, unlike solid wood trim which is cut from a different part of the tree than the plywood veneer and therefore rarely matches the rest of the piece. Further, the flexibility of the Wood-Trim allows it to be bent to almost any desired shape; it can almost be tied into knots without cracking. This makes it de­sirable for curved edges.

Solid wood trim has distinct advantages of its own. Where a piece is expected to receive much abuse, solid trim is to be preferred. And if slight moldings are de­sired on the furniture, even a 1/4-inch thick trim can be shaped to provide the decorative effect Another preferred use of solid wood trim is where the top edges of furni­ture are to be rounded off.

Photos by Milton Salamon unless otherwise noted

Contact cement or other high-quality adhesive is used for bonding; apply to both the trim and wood.

When contact cement is dry, roll on trim slowly; allow some overlap at end when cutting the trim.

Left, if roller is available it is ex­cellent means of pressing tape down firmly for a reliable and lasting bond.

Photo by Burt Murphy

Above, if roller isn't handy, try using wood scrap to pressure trim down: or hammer lightly on scrap.

"Break" trim overhang with piece of scrap wood by rubbing the wood back and forth alter bending the trim over the edge. Don't use knife or razor.

Wardrobe-chest of drawers project shown below had edges trimmed with Wood-Trim. Result is an almost undetectable edge difference after finish.

All photos on right by Lou Hochman

Edge overhang (see photo on facing page) is then removed easily by filing. Corners will be lightly sanded. Wood-Trim takes all finishes handsomely.

Mark edge trim for mitered corner by tacking it down with ends overlapped, drawing diagonal be­tween outside, inside comers; make miter cuts.

Next, miter cut made on the edge trim is trued up to the guide line by sanding off the surplus with a disk sander, for a perfectly square edge.

The best way to apply this solid wood edge trim is to use at least 1/4-inch thick solid wood and cut the strips slightly wider than the thickness of the plywood being trimmed. Use glue and small brads to attach the strips and let a narrow margin of the strips jut out beyond the edge of the plywood. This margin is later trimmed down with a small plane and sandpapered.

To make neat mitered corner joints, other than 45 degrees, tack the trim strips down temporarily with one crossed over the other. Make sure that they are accurately positioned along the plywood edge, then with a straightedge mark a diagonal line from outside corner to inside corner on the top strip where it crosses the bottom strip. Now, remove this top strip, cut away the excess wood at a point just outside the diagonal line, then sand the mitered edge down to the line on a disk sander.

Next, tack this piece back on the ply­wood edge with the tack nails going back into the same holes they made before. The mitered edge will then rest on top of the crossing trim strip and should be used as a straightedge to mark the diagonal cut­ting line on the second piece. Remove the second piece of trim and cut and sand the miter edge. Using glue and nails, set the trim back permanently in place. •

Excess projecting trim is planed down flush with surface to produce a neat, even edge; sanding is next; countersink brads with nail set, add putty.

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