snipped-for-privacy@attt.bizz wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Short of a X-ray or cutting a piece of plywood apart, is there any way to know what you're getting inside? The exteriors have grades, so why not the interior? (It's probably a piece of information that is removed long before it gets to the store's distributors, if it even exists.)
Puckdropper
Thump it? A good sheet will have an even sound across the surface. I don't know if you'll be able to hear a void on middle layers, though.
"Puckdropper" wrote
Sure. Find a real plywood supplier and buy AA or AAA grade. Get your full wallet ready to be emptied.
Seen those two grades referring to woods and veneers, and in a foreign context, but never to plywood in North America?
I use a couple of real plywood suppliers on a regular basis and none sell anything using that grading system.
Maybe I'm missing something. Got a supplier for "AA" and "AAA" _grade_ plywood, not just the veneer, in this country?
It would be a gloat if I had the chance to load up on the stuff. Now it's just a regret. :-)
In your area, do you not have a choice of suppliers? (and quality of veneered plywood?)
I mostly buy from one supplier for convenience sake where I live, but I have bought from other suppliers on occasion too. I can't remember the last time I got veneered plywood with voids in it. I mostly gauge the quality of the plywood I buy on how thin or thick the top layer of veneer is.
It sounds like that there's a collected habit of dumping cheap product on the US market by what you've said about your plywood.
Basically the veneer is less than paper thin now.
On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 06:47:46 -0500, woodchucker
Must be a pain when sanding and finishing. Many are running a business so costs are always of a concern. I build has a hobbyist for myself and I've spent as much as $125 for a sheet of oak veneered plywood and for that price, the plywood better damned well be absent of voids and have a thicker top veneer with good book matched patterns.
Initially, I started looking for thicker veneer when I began to use a blind nailer for attaching plywood. I abandoned that process after I bought my Festool Domino.
"Swingman" wrote .
I stand corrected. Been a while since I had need of anything better than standard plywoods.
Of course, if you really have need for ply with minimal voids, there are marine grade hardwood veneer plywoods available. No voids larger than 1/8", inner layers knots allowed, no voids. Pricey.
Then there are birch and mahogany aircraft mil spec grade plys, no voids. Can you say expensive? Really expensive? Around $400 for 1/2"
wrote>
Yes, from China. Buy questionable logs from us and elsewhere, make the ply and dump it back on our markets. Half of US production capability is idle, and that does not count the companies that have already folded. Do a quick search on the subject.
That's been my experience as well. I just bought some 3/4" birch plywood from Home Depot for $52 a sheet. I cut it all up for bookcase carcases and shelves and found almost no voids. What voids did exist were very small.
It was basically good one side, but I found enough good two sides for the four ends (one row of 5 cases, one row of 2) that would be exposed.
Luckily, the good sides were smooth enough that a ROS pass with 180 and another with 220 grit sufficed. The veneer would not have survived any serious sanding.
Current plywood grading:
and Hardwood plywood which is what I thought I posted earlier:
The oak veneer I've been using of late is so thin, you can see the masonite underply through the pores in the oak grain.
-Bruce
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