Need Help With Skinning a Stand

[powder_blue]

I am building a stand for my new rimless 60x24x18 (floating bottom) using rocket's design. I will be using a 3/4" birch top and I want to skin it with 3/4" birch as well. How do you guys attach the 3/4" top to the stand? Also, do you guys just glue the sides on or do you attach with screws or nails? The stand will be painted white.

 

[shifty51008]

screw it down using a counter sink and fill in with wood putty, sand back smooth. I don't use any glue but it won't hurt anything.

 

[SGT_York]

I used liquid nails and exterior grade screws for the structure and pneumatic finishing nails for the skin. You can adhere the skin structurally with screws or nails but Rocket's design is great without the additional support so you can choose the least visible methods for adhereing. Also 3/4 skin is way excessive for just a skin. Great for the top piece but I'd go cheaper for the sides.

 

[sfsuphysics]

3/4" is a bit more than just skinning. If these pieces are not carrying any load, you'll do just as well using 1/4" ply, which is significantly cheaper.

That said I do get a bit jealous of the types of wood that are readily available elsewhere as "standard" versus here. I'm not sure if birch is common out there, here it's a wood that's up there with oak in terms of price.

 

[powder_blue]

The 3/4" birch is only $10 more per 4x8 sheet than the 1/2". I was just thinking it would have less tendenacy to bow/warp. I would imagine that the downside would be the additional weight but I want this thing to be as solid as possible. Also, I will be using it for the doors in the front (flush to skin) and thought that the 3/4 would be better suited as well. I want to do a high gloss white finish and assume that the birch would be smoother than sanded plywood. Correct?

I'm just scared of putting screws in the top because I don't want to mess up how level it is. If you guys say countersink it then putty I'll do it. I just thought that maybe I could get away with just gluing and clamping the skins. Thanks to all for your help/opinions/thoughts!

 

[sfsuphysics]

Ok yeah, for doors it would be a much more solid choice, literally and figuratively.

As to the screws on the top, I wouldn't worry about level, you're not going to compress the wood a non-negligible amount, screwing will help it in the long run to prevent any twisting if your wood further shrinks/expands due to drying or excess moisture. Although if you're going to skimp on screws and go just with glue, you probably could get away with it on the top part, I would absolutely not ditch screws on the side.

 

[woodnaquanut]

For the sides you can screw from the inside. Either with pocket holes or straight thru the 2x material. Just make sure the screws are not too long! For this I'd use 3/4 ply so there is more for the screws to bite into. Pre-drill holes in 2x to prevent splitting.

Are you looking for a glossy finish? If so you might want to consider MDF instead of ply. It's much easier to get a glossy finish because there is no grain.

 

[davocean]

I often screw from the inside to hide fasteners, but w/ paint you can go either way.
Yes you can just use wood glue and clamps if done properly, and I agree, while you don't need 3/4 for the structural support, it will have less chance of warping down the road and it will float over any deviations.
Not a fan of MDF around marine at all, I too would have used the birch ply.