Just out of boredom, I went by HD at lunch today. This was in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I noticed they had two kinds of birch ply. One was labeled "3/4 inch birch plywood" and sold for 39.00. The other was labeled "3/4 inch Classic birch plywood" and sold for 29.00. Both were stamped "Made in China". I didn't ask what the difference was because I knew no one working there would know. Anyone have a clue? I miss Jerry's Home Center in Eugene Oregon.
This doesn't apply to countries that peg. China replaced the peg with a basket, but it's heavily weighted to the dollar and really hasn't had the same spread as other currencies.
Funny - I usually have better luck with Home Depot for plywood then I do with Lowes. When I want decent plywood I go to my local hardwoods store and spend a lot of time just loooking before picking. Lowes and Home Depot are not the places to buy your quality plywood -- good sources for shop stuff but not what I would put in my family room.
EXT wrote: > What most Americans don't know is that the US currency is in the toilet. I > run a Canadian company which has 99% of its income in US dollars.
Didn't realize the Canadian situation; however, I can tell you that the USD is also in the tank vs the Euro.
Spending money you don't have, to finance a war, will do that.
That rather depends upon the grade he is selling. Each face of plywood is graded just as are other wood materials and you get what you pay for. All plywood face veneers are skimpy now, have been for a long time. The days of 1/24 are long gone, welcome 1/42 and skinnier.
Another consideration is how the face veneer has been cut...most economical method and therefore the most common (nearly universay at DIY stores) is rotary. Generally unatractive. There are also flat cut and quartered, book or slip matched in either.
Be aware that some of the plywood in BORG stores (blue and orange) actually comes from local distributors.
I can call a local wholesale plywood distributor, bring the info to my local HD Pro Desk, and have the material the next day. I _have_ to know exactly what I want when I deal with HD, but I can get slatwall, phenolic board, bending plywood, or just about any hardwood veneer.
If I need a decent amount, I'll still haul my cargo trailer to my favorite hardwood dealer, a 35 mile round trip, but HD is less than 2 miles away. The same wholesaler will ship non-stock product to the hardwood dealer or my buddy's bicycle shop, if I order enough.
Because of the blemishes in my full sheets, I had to run down and pick up another 1/4 sheet of 3/4" plywood today. I didn't want to spring for a full sheet, and Lowes was out of the precut panels, so it was back to Home Depot.
I was a lot more careful this time, making sure there were no blemishes on either surface, and confidently carried my panel up and paid for it.
Unfortunately, when I got home I realized the grain didn't quite look right. Now granted, I'm not all that familiar with wood species, but this looks more like oak than birch. I double-checked the label, it says birch, but it sure doesn't look like the usual stuff.
Of course, once again, I didn't catch on until I had cut the panel down to the size of my shelves. Geez, I can't win... I got so busy looking at the "quality" of the wood, I completely forgot to even check if it was the right "type" of wood. Maybe I should just go sit down for a while. :)
Anyway, when I was cutting this panel, it smelled like... Well.... Urine. Kind of disgusting actually.
Lew Hodgett wrote in news:f6K5i.13582$Ut6.11928 @newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net:
Euro used to cost approximately $0.85 (at its low point). Now it costs $1.35 or so. That means that with respect to the euro, the dollar has lost close to 70% of its value. Of course, gasoline here in the US is still very cheap compared to Europe - about Euro 1.42 per liter in Wageningen, Netherlands. If I calculate correctly, that comes to ~US$7.30 per gallon, or more than twice the price in North Jersey.
Don't most european countries subsidize mass transit (railroads) with gas taxes? I remember hearing this in Switzerland, but was under the impression many European countries do the same.
Actually, not a bad idea, at least for the northeast, southeast, Chicagoland, and So Cal. US.
Welcome to the wonderful world of modern materials. I've used the birch and oak ply from both Lowes and Home Depot. I never let 100 grit or anything coarser than 150 get anywhere near it. As you've noticed, the face veneer is extremely thin. I don't think there's much you can do do change this without a time machine.
In that rare case, probably the Americans, but simple ticket price dosen't provide enough information.
On the other side of NY, a one way, rush hour ride on Metro North, from Bridgeport, CT to Grand Central Terminal, which is also about an hour, is $15.50 US. The New York metro area has good commuter rail service. As a whole, our longer distance rail system is a joke to what I have experienced in Europe.
I was lead to believe that high road fuel taxes help pay for the high-quality European railroads. Is that not the case?
B A R R Y wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
That's the easy way to compare for me at this time. I have found similarly several or more years ago. Rail service in the Netherlands has declined in general, first with decreasing investments and maintenance by the state owned company, then gotten worse with privatization. Maybe I'll have better reports after my next trip.
When I lived just outside Queens in Floral Park, LI, prices and travel times were similar to what one now pays from Fair Lawn, NJ. Notable differences are in the treatment of passengers by rail road staff, much better in NJ (at least on the Bergen line).
And choices between different rail road lines, and buses.
Only real long distance was NY to Seattle. What an experience! Speed and absence of priority over freight was sort of a bummer, but the ability to take a shower on the train was very good!
I also like the Acela (and the "regional") between NY, Boston, and DC. It takes only a little longer than the torture via airports and the mini seats in planes, butn then I can walk to the local train here and walk to my son's place in Somerville, from the T.
European high speed trains are indeed comfortable and relatively fast. Brussels - Paris is really great on the Thalys. I also traveled Florence to Netherlands once, but that is really now better by cheap air, especially when time becomes a factor.
European fuel taxes go to the general funds, generally speaking, they aren't dedicated AFAIK. The European experience is also if you build it, they will come, or traffic will fill the roads no matter how much is built and widened. Traffic jams should (IMHO) be encouraged so that more will be spent on (subsidized) public transportation, which is also more energy efficient.
THD has a 30 day satisfaction return policy on just about everything. You'd be surprised at what they will allow to be returned. You should have returned the plywood when you noticed it was so substandard. They will also price match, plus a 10% kicker on any competitor's like product.
I have a problem with all of the posts here about lumber that guys go out and buy (... and select from the pile themselves), and then post complaints about the inferior quality of such things as should have been obvious when they were buying it. Plys are easy to see, right on the rack. Fills are easy to see. Shame on you for not taking the time to look it over better, but why post a vent about how crummy the product is when you are the one who selected it?
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