Working effectively with plywood

Hugh Foster writes:

Here are several one-liners about how to work effectively with plywood.

•  Use masking tape on the lines you're cutting to prevent the plywood from splintering.

•  Run screws into dowels planted at cross-angles rather than trying to drive them into endgrain where they have no chance of sticking.

•  Use a second sheet of plywood as a rip guide when no long straightedge is available.

•  In many applications it's possible to finish a sheet before cutting it; do this to save quite a bit of time.

•  Break edges by running sandpaper from inner portion of the plywood sheet outward to the open edge.

•  Always use backups to prevent tear-out when drilling.