Plywood is a very common material used in construction and carpentry.

You’ll need to glue plywood at some point if you work in these domains or are doing some home repairs.

This article will tell you how to bond plywood together and finish the project quicker.

It’s not a complicated process, but you’ll need to follow a few steps to ensure everything is alright.

If the plywood isn’t properly bonded, it won’t stay in place for too long. But why would you want to bond plywood in the first place?

That’s because plywood comprises many layers of wood slices with a thickness of about 1mm.

These layers are nicely stacked perpendicular to the wood grain, and only an adhesive can bond them properly.

Keep reading to find out how you can glue plywood efficiently!

Why Glue Plywood?

It doesn’t seem reasonable to glue plywood when there’s already wood keeping it in place.

But you need the plywood to be of a certain thickness, and that’s where the bonding part comes into play.

You may need to glue two pieces together to achieve your requirements to achieve the ideal thickness.

For instance, you may need a 3-inch-thick piece of plywood, but you only have 1.5-inch-long ones.

In this case, glue two 1.5-inch pieces together and get a 3-inch one.

Another reason why you may want to glue plywood together is to laminate it. This is especially useful if you’re making countertops or working on the visible parts of furniture.

You want the wood to look its best, and you achieve that through lamination.

You could buy the wood laminated, but it doesn’t always work that way. You may need something very specific, and in that case, you should laminate the wood yourself.

To laminate plywood by covering it with actual wood layers.

This will increase its visual appeal and durability. Just put a slice of wood on top of the plywood and glue it with wood glue.

It’ll improve the appearance of the furniture well beyond what actual plywood offers.

If you need glue for furniture, please check out the linked guide.

Lastly, you may want to glue plywood together to improve the overall durability and resistance to the impact of the plywood.

If you’re working on heavyweight or outdoor projects, you need the plywood to be resistant to impact and moisture-resistant.

In that case, you could glue water-resistant plywood on top of low-quality plywood to achieve the best result with the least investment.

It’s a cost-effective technique because you’re not using waterproof plywood for the entire project.

How Do You Glue Plywood Together?

To increase the cohesion of the plywood sheets while also minimizing the separation between the layers, you should incorporate the sheets to the edges instead of using pins and nails.

This also brings a double benefit of increasing the durability and structural integrity of the plywood.

It’s because you’re lowering the plywood contraction and expansion, making it more rigid and resilient.

Most professional carpenters use plywood in construction projects and textiles (ceiling, packaging, formwork, wall, etc.) because it’s less influenced by weather changes than natural wood.

Moreover, plywood is very hardy and has high mechanical strength thanks to the laminated wood assembly.

Now, about gluing plywood together to achieve a thicker and more resistant piece, follow the steps below:

Using a flux brush, apply the glue to the wood pieces. This type of brush can be bought from any supermarket or hardware store.

You can even use the brush in water to glue simple joints

When you connect the clamps to the surface of the wood, use wax paper to remove any dirt or spot marks

If you’re working with an old finish, you need to clean the debris and grime before gluing the plywood.

Polish the surface and spread the glue evenly to ensure that the joints’ surface is linked together properly.

Prepare your materials – take several thin pieces of plywood you want to bond.

Remember to finish the bonding quickly to move on to the other steps.

Each board should take around 20-30 minutes before you move on

Superglue is great at bonding individual pieces together. Usually, phenol-formaldehyde is the most common adhesive used in plywood construction, but you may not have it.

In this case, superglue can join marine plywood panels together. Before you use superglue, clean debris and dust from the surface and apply a surface treatment before bonding

Remove any excess glue using an abrasive pad. This pad can rub the surface of any material, including wood, plastic, metal, or glass.

The abrasive pad should be dampened and polished first, though.

After the glue dries, use the pad to remove anything in excess, and then use a towel to wipe the leftovers (use protective clothing like gloves, masks, and dust-proof glasses to protect you from any dust and dirt when working with the abrasive pad)

To prevent the plywood sheets from squeezing out, wrap them in tape before the glue dries.

Now you’ve bonded laminated plywood sheets together. However, there are several steps that you may be confused about.

If you make any mistakes during any part of the process, you may need to restart the entire process.

My guide on glues for cork boards will offer you additional advice.

Mistakes You Should Avoid When Gluing Plywood

You should use PVA glue if possible to ensure the bonding process goes smoothly.

If you don’t have PVA glue, ensure your adhesives can bond wood. Before bonding, remove any dust and debris from the plywood surface. This is very important as dust diminishes the adhesion between the plywood sheets.

As always, I recommend wearing protective gear when working with industrial glue.

Most adhesives are toxic when liquid and can irritate your eyes, mouth, throat, and skin if handled improperly.

Work in a well-ventilated room to avoid inhaling the fumes too much!

Wrap Up

Plywood pieces are thicker in the middle, even though they’re thin overall. The thick core will improve the surface layers’ cohesion to reduce their external impacts.

When something impacts plywood, most of the force of the impact goes to the surface layers, with almost nothing going to the core.

When you bond two layers of plywood together, it’ll enhance the thickness and strength of their structure.

The outer layers are more difficult to rip apart by impacts and look better.

Before you bond plywood pieces together, you first need to understand its qualities and what you obtain from the bond.

Leave any questions down below, and I’ll be happy to reply!