Formaldehyde Free Plywood at HD

[Bill]

Although I haven't been there in a while, I noticed yesterday that Home Depot is carrying "Formaldehyde-free" plywood now (by Columbia Forest Products). I thought that $39.95 for a 3/4" 4' by 8' sheet was quite fair based on the prices of similar Formaldehyde-free materials I have seen described (and availability is another thing altogether..). My previously-discussed sensitivity to formaldehyde makes living or working with the "ordinary stuff " impractical. If this stuff lives up to my expectations, if may re-open doors that I perceived were shut-off to me! I am hopeful! : ) For $20 they will provide me with a pickup truck for 75 minutes. Question: Can I, with a partner, safely cut a full sheet in half on a 30" table saw (without risking kickback)?

Bill

[Upscale]

You can probably do it without a partner if you go about it the right way. However, kickbacks can happen even when the safest precautions have been taken.

That said you can use one of more of the following methods:

1) Don't feed the plywood from right behind it where a kickback might throw the wood. 2) Have a properly working splitter on the tablesaw. Use kickback pawls on the tablesaw. 3b) Use antikickback rollers on the wood when feeding the wood. Use featherboards on the top of the plywood sheet to hold it down. Use infeed and outfeed tables or supports for cutting (or the help of a partner) 5) Cut the plywood in half off the tablesaw (handsaw, jigsaw, powersaw) and then cut the halves to size on the tablesaw.

I'm sure there's a few more safety precautions you can take, but these above should get you started.

[LDosser]

> 3c) Use featherboards on the top of the plywood sheet to hold it down.

#5 is probably the best. Couple sheets of foam on the floor or driveway,

100" straight edge and a skill saw.

[Upscale]

Always wondered about that since I've never tried it. Won't the skill saw kick up a bunch of foam sheet pieces that stick to everything because of static electricity? It alway drives me nuts trying to dispose of static filled foam peanuts from delivery packages.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The Home Depots around here will do one or two cuts free. I have them rough cut the sheet into a couple of pieces and do the final cutting at home. Safer for me and easier to transport.

[HeyBub]

Yes. Especially when following normal precautions.

In addition, it would require a really powerful saw to throw half a sheet of

3/4" plywood instead of:

a) Cutting into the stock, or b) Stalling the motor

[Swingman]

Yeps, you definitely haven't been there for a while. Columbia Forest Products has been supplying Home Depot with Formaldehyde free plywood since 2005. ;)

[Swingman]

A 3HP cabinet saw will kickback a half sheet of 3/4" ply with enough force to make you stop talk politics, if only momentarily. ;)

[Bill]

The Formaldehyde Departme..,oops I mean the Eco-friendly Fabricated Building Materials departments is an area I have tended to avoid ; ) I've been carefully inching my way back since I bought a house. I wore a dust mask at the Woodworkers Show this year and had no problems (unlike the previous 2 years).

Bill

[Nonny]

The weight of a full sheet, or even half sheet would make kickback on most contractor's saws (120v) minor. Just keep out of the way and use outfeed rollers or table, along with something at the side. When I had a shop, I built a little 12X30" table just the height of the TS and kept it to the left of the TS. A couple shelves in the table really added to its utility.

[Larry Blanchard]

Nope. Not if you mean the construction foam, the pink or blue stuff. I refloored a 10'X20' porch with plywood cut just that way. Set the saw so it only goes into the foam 1/2" or less.

[Luigi Zanasi]

We need a "like" button on usenet. :-)

Luigi

[Phisherman]

The trick is having 8 feet available in the front and 8 feet clear on the backside, which means you should have 16+ of clear space. Ply is unlikely to kickback, but it is prudent to have a splitter installed and make sure the ply edge remains in contact with the fence during the cut.

[Bill]

What did not occur to me until after I posted, since I haven't bought much plywood, is that what I was looking at was surely not "exterior grade"--I recall seeing some formaldehyde-free exterior grade plywood online once, and it was around $80 a sheet, and just available to wholesalers. Still it's nice to know that HD has the interior grade plywood.

Bill

[Bill]

How well does interior grade plywood hold up in a garage? My garshop drops to about 30 degrees, but the concrete floor probably gets cooler. Among other things, I was thinking of putting some plywood under a drill press. I assume that the interior grade stuff would probably be fine for jigs and things like that--how about a router table?

Major snow storm expected to start here in the next hour or two (4 to 8 inches)---think spring!!! : )

Bill

[LDosser]

Definitely the pink or blue foam. In a pinch the beaded stuff is ok, but there is the mess. I just always found it simpler to 'rip' a sheet of plywood this way. That said, if the cut is within safe reaching distance, I prefer to lay the sheet on saw horses rather than wrestle it onto the table saw or crawl on it on the floor.

[LDosser]

This reminds me of something I saw in the past year or so. Plan for a cart for moving plywood sheets. Cart - like hand cart - swung the sheet up parallel to the floor and morphed into an infeed table.

Shopnotes?

[LDosser]

If you cover it with melamine or similar. As is, it has too much stiction.

[Upscale]

Or perhaps, a tablesaw panel lifter.

[LDosser]

That's something like it, but the one I saw had a couple wheels for rolling the panel to the saw.