Cabinet plywood recommends

[erock]

That's the stuff I was referring too, I believe it's Georgia-Pacific "Pure Bond".  The stuff I've got was better than what I was getting at my lumber yard and at a better price too.   

The Pure Bond that is available around here is about the best you will find under $100 a sheet.  It looks like the core layers are poplar, and I think I saw it marked as such.  The veneer is still thin, but it works pretty well.  Just don't go crazy when sanding.

I built a toy box for nephew out of 3/4" birch from HD and with 220 and a crapsman sander went thru the veneer in no time!  So I had to make 2 lids for the toy box.  That was 3 years ago and I never bought plywood from HD again.

 

[mastercabman]

I agree with the prefinished material.  ....

Jon

If it is pre-finished and your using Dominos to join, how do you glue the two surfaces? If you are using a dado then the pre-finish has been removed. But the pre-finish is still there when using Dominos?

Say  what ??? ???

 

[Brice Burrell]

I agree with the prefinished material.  ....

Jon

If it is pre-finished and your using Dominos to join, how do you glue the two surfaces? If you are using a dado then the pre-finish has been removed. But the pre-finish is still there when using Dominos?

I'll just glue the tenons/mortises, maybe a few screws or nails.

 

[mwhafner]

That's the stuff I was referring too, I believe it's Georgia-Pacific "Pure Bond".  The stuff I've got was better than what I was getting at my lumber yard and at a better price too.  

The Pure Bond that is available around here is about the best you will find under $100 a sheet.  It looks like the core layers are poplar, and I think I saw it marked as such.  The veneer is still thin, but it works pretty well.  Just don't go crazy when sanding.

I built a toy box for nephew out of 3/4" birch from HD and with 220 and a crapsman sander went thru the veneer in no time!  So I had to make 2 lids for the toy box.  That was 3 years ago and I never bought plywood from HD again.

Home Depot used to stock "Chinaply".  About a year ago, they started stocking the GP Pure Bond.  It is a considerable improvement from the earlier products.

As I stated above, the veneer is still thin, but not unusable.  

 

[Corwin]

I agree with the prefinished material.  ....

Jon

If it is pre-finished and your using Dominos to join, how do you glue the two surfaces? If you are using a dado then the pre-finish has been removed. But the pre-finish is still there when using Dominos?

I'll just glue the tenons/mortises, maybe a few screws or nails.

Here's a neat solution from Seth:  talkFestool: LS130 and Prefinished Plywood, TIP

 

[Swingman]

That's the stuff I was referring too, I believe it's Georgia-Pacific "Pure Bond".  The stuff I've got was better than what I was getting at my lumber yard and at a better price too.   

Just a side note: "PureBond" is actually a plywood made by Columbia Forest Products. The past ten years I've seen an increase in specs requiring "formaldehyde free/low emitting material" in sheet goods, and CPF's "Purebond" is LEEDS EQ 4.4 compliant in that regard. It is indeed available at many Home Depots. Not the best plywood I've used, but priced very competitively and I'm not the least bit wary of putting it in the kitchens and homes I build despite what some consider the HD stigma.

 

[tjbier]

While this was on my mind I took a few pics to show what the china ply looks like.
Great for arches!!!

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You can see where the plys overlap, kinda makes you  wonder what it will do over time. [unsure]

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This is the 7 ply from HD.

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[erock]

I salesman at a local lumber yard told me a story about china made plywood.
He said:
  " What they do is make the plywood on a large ship.  They go dock to dock from different countries buying cheap wood.  While they travel from one dock to the next, they are onboard milling the lumber.  The chippings and saw dust gets dumped over board.  They messed up the plywood industry buy making and selling cheep plywood.  Thats why all of HD and Lowes plywood is bowed, chips easily and has large voids.  We sell Canadian ply and US ply only."

Was this a sales pitch? Who knows.  But the plywood that I buy from him is without a doubt the best I have available in my area.  18mm canadian baltic birch, and have yet to find a void in a single piece.  Sure a 5x5 sheet is $67.  But at lease my finished cabinet won't move on me in the future.

I liked the plywood he sold so much, I made my own hardwood floors out of it.  I took 4x8 sheets of baltic birch.  Cut them down to 2x4 pieces and routed a T&G into them and nailed them down like hardwood flooring.  Put a couple coats of polly over it and looks great.  Everyone who comes over is in love with it and says "what kind of floor is this?" "where did you buy this flooring?"  so it's nice to add personal touches like this.  I'll stop rambling on now.....sorry.

 

[tjbier]

I salesman at a local lumber yard told me a story about china made plywood.
He said:
  " What they do is make the plywood on a large ship.  They go dock to dock from different countries buying cheap wood.  While they travel from one dock to the next, they are onboard milling the lumber.  The chippings and saw dust gets dumped over board.  They messed up the plywood industry buy making and selling cheep plywood.  Thats why all of HD and Lowes plywood is bowed, chips easily and has large voids.  We sell Canadian ply and US ply only."

Was this a sales pitch? Who knows.  But the plywood that I buy from him is without a doubt the best I have available in my area.  18mm canadian baltic birch, and have yet to find a void in a single piece.  Sure a 5x5 sheet is $67.But at lease my finished cabinet won't move on me in the future.

I liked the plywood he sold so much, I made my own hardwood floors out of it.  I took 4x8 sheets of baltic birch.  Cut them down to 2x4 pieces and routed a T&G into them and nailed them down like hardwood flooring.  Put a couple coats of polly over it and looks great.  Everyone who comes over is in love with it and says "what kind of floor is this?" "where did you buy this flooring?"  so it's nice to add personal touches like this.  I'll stop rambling on now.....sorry.

That would not surprise me at all.
For 3/4"? that seems like a good price, Mneards here has 4x8 of Baltic B for $84. that's the only place I've seen 4'x8' of BB
You know were going to need pics right. [big grin]

 

[erock]

i will try to post some pics.....i've tried to post pics before....but it never happened.
let me see if i can figure this out.

 

[peter halle]

Try this link:  http://festoolownersgroup.com/gallery-attaching-images/testing/

Peter

 

[junk731]

Never heard of, or seen Canadian Baltic Birch. To my knowledge, the only BB ply we get comes from Europe and Russia where baltic birch grows and comes in 5' x 5' sheets. Have seen birch ply in 4 x 8 sheets that look like BB but was told by supplier it's chinaply. Columbia Forest Products makes a birch veneer plywood with a poplar ply core in 4 x 8 sheets but has no resemblance to BB. Don't know what you got sold but if its working its all good.

John

 

[erock]

here are some pics of the plywood flooring I made out of 18mm birch. cut into 2x4 pieces with a T&G.

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what do you think??
Eric
p.s thanks peter!!

 

[tjbier]

I like it!
Nice job.

 

[raiderone]

Mark, try Plywood Hawaii.  They have decent prefinished plywood in 8' x 4' format.  However, I would recommend the baltic birch plywood as mentioned in an earlier post.  BB ply only comes in 5' x 5' and has 13 layers and is void free (although they won't gurantee it).

 

[lambeater]

I salesman at a local lumber yard told me a story about china made plywood.
He said:
   " What they do is make the plywood on a large ship.  They go dock to dock from different countries buying cheap wood.  While they travel from one dock to the next, they are onboard milling the lumber.  The chippings and saw dust gets dumped over board.  They messed up the plywood industry buy making and selling cheep plywood.  Thats why all of HD and Lowes plywood is bowed, chips easily and has large voids.  We sell Canadian ply and US ply only."

Was this a sales pitch? Who knows.  But the plywood that I buy from him is without a doubt the best I have available in my area.  18mm canadian baltic birch, and have yet to find a void in a single piece.  Sure a 5x5 sheet is $67.  But at lease my finished cabinet won't move on me in the future.

I liked the plywood he sold so much, I made my own hardwood floors out of it.  I took 4x8 sheets of baltic birch.  Cut them down to 2x4 pieces and routed a T&G into them and nailed them down like hardwood flooring.  Put a couple coats of polly over it and looks great.  Everyone who comes over is in love with it and says "what kind of floor is this?" "where did you buy this flooring?"  so it's nice to add personal touches like this.  I'll stop rambling on now.....sorry.

You guys forgot RONA they also sell that Chinese crap as well!

Lambeater

 

[Wood_Junkie]

The "Baltic Birch" from the Menard's here is passable and usable.  A full size 3/4" sheet with both sides face quality, is $70, though..

As a side note, 5'x5' sheets net out to 25 sq feet.  Whereas a 4'x8' sheet is 32 sq feet.  So the latter is over 25% more material.

I'm really liking MDO nowadays.  I also get this at Menard's ($50 IIRC for 3/4").  I'm finding the plies are consistent and haven't noticed any voids.  With the MDF 'skin' it's got perfect consistent thickness and the strength and stability of plywood.  Paints great.  Varnishes great, but looks like butt (ok for utility purposes)...

 

[erock]

I like it!
Nice job.

TJbier, Thanks.  It was a fun project.  I learned real fast that ryobi does NOT make good router bits.  And that I needed a Festool router for the T&G process.  I used a cheap Skil router for my T&G's.  It wasn't until AFTER I finished the floor I bought my OF1400.  I am slowly replacing all my tools with Festools. 

 

[Mark]

Thanks again. Have to check out Plywood Hawaii. Never been there but talked a nice salesman on the phone. Still don't have a plan yet and there is a washer and dryer in the kitchen that we want to move but to where?... yeah small details that we never think through. My wife has now launched a bathroom remodel when her hallway flooring project move into the bathroom. Now that the old ugly stained floor is removed to reveal the older stained and ugly floor guess what is not on the hotplate to address...

ugh.

 

[Kevin Stricker]

Baltic Birch, Euro Ply, Russian Ply, and Apple ply are all basically the same thing.  The only difference is how they are packaged, and where they come from.  Basically a hardwood veneer ply with few if any voids sold in either a 5x5 or 4x8 sheet.  For the most part it is going to be the most stable ply you can buy.  It is also going to cost you 25% or more of a premium from a standard ply.  If you have the bucks, go for it!

One word of caution, buy a single sheet from your supplier and take it home and store it vertically in your shop for a week.  Not all Baltic Birch is the same and some tends to warp, which really sucks considering the premium you are paying for it.  Don't buy a pallet and find out the hard way!

Something else to consider.  You could probably save enough from using standard cabinet grade unfinished birch to buy a nice HVLP setup.  Considering the fact that we are talking about plywood boxes why not end the job with a new tool that you can use for future jobs?