Using a hand plane on Plywood???

[Scooter67]

I am making a barn for my daughter's little toy horses and with the same as all my products the edges are not perfectly square, not really close enough for government work either. I think I can shave it down with a hand plane but before I ruin my planes edges, can I use my plane on plywood? Will the resin used in plywood, would they dull my blades? I am not worried about shaving the wood, just how the adhesive resins will effect my plane's blade.

[ViolinMagick]

As long as your plane is not one of the cheap chinese plane shaped objects (PSO), you should be fine as the steel in the blade is probably 1000x harder than the glue you are cutting with it. You might think in these terms, how long does it take for plywood to dull a tablesaw blade? Frankly, I would think that you would dull it faster planing hardwood.

Of course, if it does dull out, you can always resharpen it which is part of being a good woodworker.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

VM

[Craig]

I use a low angle block plane for plywood end grain with good results.

[Don Z.]

Ultra-light boatbuilders do it all the time...

[nateswoodworks]

It won't dull them any faster than most hardwoods. If you are going crossgrain to the face veneer you may want to score it first ,much cleaner cut. Ditto on the low angle but it's not a deal breaker.

Nate

[mattvan]

I do it all the time. I've demonstrated it on my own videos every now and then. Great results really.

Just read the top layer's grain direction like you would with solid wood. As for the concern about dulling the blade due to the glue, I wouldn't think twice about it. The wood will dull it before the glue will.

It's not just planes I use with plywood, I cut it with my hand saws and clean up joinery with my chisels equally also.