# Very nice plywood at Home Depot



## JimInWoodstock (Mar 12, 2012)

I am not sure where this belongs, but since many of our fixtures and jigs are made from either MDF or plywood, I thought that I would post it here.

Home Depot has a really nice 3/4 (actually 23/32) sheet of plywood marked in the store as "cabinet grade plywood". It has the following pro's from my standpoint

1. Both side are good. The sales guy said that the "other" side is C grade, but I don't agree. Both sides are quite nice. One side is slightly better than the other, but both are very usable. If you buy a sheet, check both sides. I recently looked at a sheet and one side did have a moderate defect in it. However, I looked at the next sheet in the stack and it was very good on both sides.

2. Both sides are sanded well. For fixtures/jigs no additional sanding is really required.

3. It had 7 plies.

4. At least from the 3 sheets that I bought, there are no voids in the plies. It really reminds me of baltic birch plywood, although it does not feel as dense as baltic birch.

5. It is quite inexpensive for what you get. Here in the Atlanta area, the price is slightly under $32 per sheet.

6. It is quite a bit lighter than MDF. Also, it produces real sawdust when cut as opposed to the crappy super fine dust when cutting MDF.


----------



## BigRad1 (Mar 15, 2012)

The "real sawdust" is nice and for most uses the 23/32 plywood works well. Cabinet bodies and so on. But on the case of jigs and fixtures where you need a smooth, flat, stable surface the MDF gets the nod.

Not sure any wood product can be considered relatively inexpensive. Prices have gone up and the quality continues to decline. Veneer is thinner and there are more voids than ever. All relative I suppose.


----------



## Relative (Apr 24, 2008)

I also think this is pretty good stuff - especially getting it from HD at a reasonable price. Baltic Birch is simply not available anywhere within a hundred miles. Mail order would be the only option for me. However, this cabinet grade from HD was used in building the desk & storage wall pictured for my wife for Christmas 2010. There were many cuts involved and I was amazed at how solid the wood was. I encountered no voids. They still carry it locally here in Utah and the price really is very reasonable.

Mike Cebula


----------



## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

They do not stock it on a regular basis but when they do stock it I buy extra. It does have voids but I find it accreptable for building most anything cabinet carcasses to router table tops


----------



## JimInWoodstock (Mar 12, 2012)

An update to my original posting...

I just finished a project with the plywood and I have to change a couple of comments.
The "C" side is nice and smooth but some sheets have an inlay(s) of material to fill in a defect.
I did encounter 2 small ply voids after cutting 12 pieces. Not bad. Certainly way less than "standard" plywood.


----------



## Cochese (Jan 12, 2010)

JimInWoodstock said:


> I am not sure where this belongs, but since many of our fixtures and jigs are made from either MDF or plywood, I thought that I would post it here.
> 
> Home Depot has a really nice 3/4 (actually 23/32) sheet of plywood marked in the store as "cabinet grade plywood". It has the following pro's from my standpoint
> 
> ...


I know the kind of which you speak, and have made a few things in the shop out of it. But I humbly recommend that you go over to Peach State Lumber off Jiles @ Moon Station in Kennesaw and see what they have to offer. They sell a white birch Shop VC that is within a dollar or so of the HD Chile sheets. 11 plies vs 7, and it certainly finishes better.

The HD stuff also has a propensity to warp if you look at it wrong. The stuff from Peach State seems a lot more stable to me.


----------



## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

i saw that stuff at mine too ... looks vrey nice, and it was $29.95 per 8x4 at mine


----------



## Stretch226 (Apr 25, 2012)

I can attest to your observations re: Home Depot Ply.. I first tried their competeter [Lowes], was very dis-apointed once I'd cut into the sheet. Have since found out that Lowes is from China, H.D. is American made.


----------



## RCclee (Mar 31, 2012)

How did you find that out? Wood from China too? Wow, we are really in a mess.


----------



## eccentrictinkerer (Dec 24, 2007)

The last sheet of the 7 ply I bought (last summer) from HD curled up 3 inches overnight. 

They told me to bring it back, but I had already used it for small parts on a quick project for a customer. 

Very leery about it.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

You could say you got a (4' x 8' ) one for free from HD.

==



eccentrictinkerer said:


> The last sheet of the 7 ply I bought (last summer) from HD curled up 3 inches overnight.
> 
> They told me to bring it back, but I had already used it for small parts on a quick project for a customer.
> 
> Very leery about it.


----------



## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

does more plys generally mean better stability? how would this stuff compare to the 5 ply hardwood plywood also at home depot (that goes for about $44 per sheet)?


----------



## Cochese (Jan 12, 2010)

Stretch226 said:


> I can attest to your observations re: Home Depot Ply.. I first tried their competeter [Lowes], was very dis-apointed once I'd cut into the sheet. Have since found out that Lowes is from China, H.D. is American made.


I am 95% positive the HD plywood we are referring to is from Chile.


----------



## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

I also, just recently purchased a sheet ($29). Built the carcass of my first cabinet. And it does really look nice. I will, on the other hand, pay the extra 10 for the good stuff for outer cabinet walls. But I really didn't find anything bad about them.


----------



## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

I'm not sure about their 3/4 plywood but the 1/2" (or thereabouts) plywood at my Home Depot is usually labeled either Nicaragua or Honduras.


----------



## Cochese (Jan 12, 2010)

N'awlins77 said:


> I also, just recently purchased a sheet ($29). Built the carcass of my first cabinet. And it does really look nice. I will, on the other hand, pay the extra 10 for the good stuff for outer cabinet walls. But I really didn't find anything bad about them.


It's not bad. I have less negative things to say about it as I have much more positive things to say about what I buy instead for the same price. I realize not everyone is in that kind of position, but I urge them to explore other opportunities.

I had up until recently purchased from HD or Lowes because of the convenience and helping me get it up on the roof. But I discovered that the yard will put it on the roof for me and it's really not much farther. Just have to tie it up myself, which has become the norm everywhere.

Plus, the more I go to the yard the more they recognize me and I typically get better advice, selection and discounts the more I go.

Get to know the guys at your local yard. It pays off.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Baltic birch plywood has 13 laminations in 3/4" thickness and is way stronger with no voids. If you are going to build cabinets or furniture this is the smart way to go. For jigs and fixtures the "cabinet grade" from HD is "good enough for the kind of girls we go with."


----------



## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

Mike said:


> Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Baltic birch plywood has 13 laminations in 3/4" thickness and is way stronger with no voids. If you are going to build cabinets or furniture this is the smart way to go. For jigs and fixtures the "cabinet grade" from HD is "good enough for the kind of girls we go with."


So more layers means generally stronger and flatter?

HD also has 5 layer 3/4" hardwod ply for about $44 each ... which would (in general) be considered better (eg- stronger and flatter), the 7 layer "cabinet grade" stuff, or the 5 layer hardwood stuff?


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Chris, as long as there are no voids the laminations add rigidity and strength; more is better.


----------



## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Definitely be getting the better ply for the outer cabinets. What looked "good" before stain, don't look so good now. I didn't noticed as well, the patches (one on each side of my cabinet) as you do now, with stain. The stain doesn't soak into the patches as well. But for this cabinet, which is sandwiched between others, it'll be fine.


----------



## Stretch226 (Apr 25, 2012)

RCclee said:


> How did you find that out? Wood from China too? Wow, we are really in a mess.


Lowes [local store] admitted it when I complained about the voids. Had already cut into the sheet, so was stuck with it. Also discovered a sheet of Birch purchsed fro H.D. came from Chile. It had slight voids, nothing like Lowes.


----------



## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Well I think I purchased my last $29 dollar sheet from HD. Didn't have this problem with the first sheet, just a few "patches" that didn't take the stain, but I bought a sheet Friday night and it didn't appear to be warped that night, but Saturday morning when I went to cut it, it was pretty warped. Half of the sheet wasn't too bad, so the two walls came out pretty flat. But the rest of the sheet was too warped. I figured it was because it was late, no sun coming from their skylights, so it was kinda dark in the store, plus I had the wife with me, so I was kinda hurrying, it was the top sheet (I don't normally choose the top sheet), so I just thought I picked a bad sheet. Went back on Saturday morning, whent through 4 or 5 sheets before I picked one that I thought looked pretty good. I cut a piece for the bottom of the cabinet, 45 wide, 23 deep. After cutting it, and laying it down, I saw it too was very warped now. 

It'll be the 40 something dollar Birch for me from now on. Live and learn, I guess....


----------



## wbh1963 (Oct 11, 2011)

I have only had cause to by 2 sheets of 3/4 ply from the 'big boxes' in the last year or so. One was the cheapest they had, 18 bucks or so and wasn't too bad on the voids considering price. I snagged it to dice it up into 12" x 16" rough cut sections that were used up as structural supports in a modular wall unit for a garage application.

The other sheet was your basic $45 Oak ply. This one was cut up into 2` x 4` rough cuts that were later cut down to 22.25 x 22.25 units. They were used as replacement shelves for 'cookie cutter' 24" wide kitchen cabinets in rental apartments my uncle's company manages. A strip of 'iron on' veneer was attached to the front edge of the board before rattle canning them with a polyurothene finish. The ended up matching the solid 'light oak' trim of the cabinet style well.

The oak ply piece from Lowes wasn't impressive or offensive, just good enough. In my case it was simply a matter of needing to take it out of the store in sizes I can manage, which is 4'x4' at the max. I have run several full sheets of OSB accross my TS, and a sheet or two of 1/2", but the experience of those jobs made me unwilling to press my luck managing the additional weight of full sheet 3/4".

I should also mention that although big box store's panel saws can be convenient in some aspects, don't count on a lot of accuracy or clean cuts. The saw operator himself complained about the 'company' using a $9 blade on a $4000.00 saw...

On panel saws, they work in to basic manners. One has the motor carriage locked and the wood in rolled through a stationary blade. The other has the wood stationary and the carriage moves, like on a radial.

Better accuracy is achieved with the carriage locked and the wood moving, the more time consuming of the two options. Care to guess which method the store's saw operators prefer?....


----------

