I am working to cut some games out of 1/2 Baltic Birch Plywood. Since the parts for putting the board together are both large and small I prefer not to try taping the pieces. How much solid space would two parts held in with tabs would need to be stable? Particularly if later I decide to flip pieces.
Thanks,
Jeff
As one who has carved many pieces out of Baltic birch,( once two hundred out of one sheet), remember
One must allow enough wood to give support strength as additional pieces are cut. I even pause the machine at certain times to add additional clamping in the middle, where previously cut pieces have been removed.
God Bless,
Martin
If using a downcut bit, I don’t tab my 1/2 Baltic birch pieces anymore unless they are really small. A downcut bit actually locks the parts in quite well but they can wiggle loose easily with smaller parts.
In regards to your question about amount of material, that is mostly a function of tab frequency and part size. If you have tabs on 3 or 4 sides(depending on shapes) you can probably get away with 3/16 to 1/4 inch of material left between parts. Baltic birch is surprisingly stout even when cut skinny. It’s also going to be somewhat determined by how you nest your parts. If adding one more row of parts makes you have to shrink the material gaps too much, you’ll just have to omit that row and spread the parts evenly. It will be a bit of trial and error as your workpiece won’t have a set equation to solve your question based on someone else’s different project.
