I haven’t made a paint grade cabinet in a long time so it was suggested I use this shop grade Birch plywood. Like most everything else it’s an import and I can’t believe the level of crap that’s being sold!! I worked in a lumber yard (Mom&Pop style) in the mid 60’s and early 70’s so been around for a while!
I have a decent quality Amana dado set but cutting dado’s in this stuff for the shelves was crazy. Not only does it splinter the inconsistency of the thickness adds to the challenge. The veneer, such as it is, rips right off. It’s only 1/128″ in thickness. I’ve attached a photo of this stuff.
Other than just needing to get this off of my chest, any hints on how to work with this stuff should I ever need to do this again? The majority of my work is solid wood, I suppose should I ever need large sheets I’ll be better off cutting my own 1/8″ thick veneer. Whew, what a hassle!
Replies
Avoid the stuff if at all possible!
John:
It seems even domestic plywood has the thinest of face veneers, but the overseas stuff is especially bad. All I can say is avoid using the stuff any way you can. Though I have built a lot of stuff using plywood, I have always hated building furniture with it. My hat is off to those woodworkers who excel at doing federal furniture with lots of veneer detail. Beautiful work. But as for me, I'll stick to building with actual boards. They are much more forgiving and with proper jointery will last for generations.
gdblake
PS -- And all this time I thought the only thing folks used a thickness caliper for was to prove how thin of a shaving they can get with a handplane.
Agree!
Couldn't agree more, if anything I'll use plywood for shelves and face with the real thing. On this project I cut a groove in the facing and a tongue on the ply. Even with paint grade I want the intergrity of a joint holding things in alignment. I very, very, carefully used a plane with a cambered blade to coax the facing even with the ply and just the sole of the plane rubbing on the "face veneer" made it thin enough to see the reddish colored glue below it -- wow :-(
By the way, I find the calipers great because as the eyes start to fade they're actually easier to read than a tape. Good way too to isolate thick areas on tenons.
I've had some success with
I've had some success with dados in plywood by marking where the dado will be, then scoring those lines with a utility knife before cutting the dado. More recently, for painted work, I've been using ply with a medium density overlay that comes pre-primed.
I've tried the pre-cutting technique but the overlay plywood sounds like a much better solution, thanks I'll look for and use that on the next paint project.
Would you pay more?
I've asked the question if woodworkers wouldn't be willing to pay more for a thicker veneer on hardwood plywood... just like many are willing to pay more for Lie Neilsen plane or a Festool saw. It makes sense to me but not to the manufacturer's. I think the issue may be the veneering machines that slice a wood log in 1/42" thk slices, or whatever it is.
Still if there is a market for custom planes, why not for custom plywood. There is a manufacturer here in town, Navy Island Plywood that makes plywood that can cost $1000 a sheet... well book matched exotic's cost a lot. But why shouldn't they be able to manufacturer ordinary species with a lot thicker profile. Yes it would cost more...but would you think it worth the money?
Peter
Home Depot or Lowes
I take it you bought this garbage at a home center? I shy away from those bums and always buy lumber from a mom and pop lumber yard.
Neither Big Box
It's everywhere!! I actually bought this material from a reputable yard that is based out of California and has a large operation here in Las Vegas. To their credit though I usually only buy domestic plywood and they did advise me to paint and seal it well or it could warp. Trying to save a few dollars on material was a mistake and won't be repeated. I'd rather take a cut in my slim profit margin than sacrifice my quality and reputation.
Actually, I'd rather just work with solid material and make my own panels as needed!
scoring saw alternative
Put a fine tooth blade in the saw..Raise the blade 1/16" for a scoring cut.This may work, the next method always works.
Put a fine tooth blade in backwards,raise the blade 1/16" and make your scoring cut.Then reverse the blade ,raise for a full cut (one tooth higher than the stock). This second method is time consuming but will work.I would try the first method with the blade always in the normal position first.
Commercial shops use a scoring saw blade ahead of the regular blade.
mike
SandePly from HD
I have had very good sucess with "Sandeply" from Home Depot.
I am build many shop projects with it and have never had a problem.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled