I recently built a bar in my basement using some 3/4" oak ply that had been sitting in my garage for the past ten years or so (I originally bought it for some bookcases that, somehow, never got built). As I recall, I paid $45 at one of the big box stores - probably Builder's Square. The price was higher that normal at the time because the industry was in the midst of one of its occasional lumber 'shortages'. It cleaned up nicely and looks great. I needed to build a back bar to go with it and bought another sheet of 3/4" oak ply, this time for $39 from Menard's (a much more 'normal' price). The grain was MUCH nicer on this one, and viewed from the edge, the nine plies (vs seven on the old one) appeared to be perfect
- almost as if they were made by a machine! (ok, they *were* made by a machine, but I think you know what I mean). I've never seen plywood with such perfect plies. I anxiously started working with this piece and it quickly became obvious why the older piece was the better of the two. The veneer on the new piece was like paper. It was wood, but it had the thickness of a sheet of paper. Fortunately, it was smoother than the old piece, so it didn't need much sanding, but I was still very disappointed.
Is this normal? Is this how mass-market plywood is done these days? Assuming I finish it correctly, will this present durability problems? Where can I get something more like the old stuff without spending upwards of $100/sheet?