How to Make Scarf Joints

Instead of purchasing the 14' sheet of plywood, you can easily scarf your own using two 4' x 8' pieces. To scarf 1/4" plywood, stack the two sheets, setting the top one 2" back from the bottom piece. Using a belt sander, electric plane, or even a 2 x 4 wrapped with sandpaper, plane the pieces evenly, using the lamination lines in the plywood as your guide (they should all be parallel to each other). With this method, the angles are guaranteed to match.

For gluing, sandwich the plywood between two pieces of 3/4" scrap lumber, gluing between the two sanded angles. Put wax paper between the scrap and the plywood to prevent glue from binding to the scrap. Every three inches, put a finishing nail on both sides. Make sure the nails are long enough to go in to the bottom piece of scrap lumber.