HD has maple ply, but only red oak and poplar boards... Mix/match?

[YJJim]

My local HD has maple ply on sale for $29/sheet and I picked some up, but they didn't have any maple boards to use for trim/facing.

The HD carries red oak, poplar, white pine, and fir boards. Would any of these work well with the maple (I'd prefer a uniform look)? Or should I find a lumber yard that carries maple?

While I'm asking the question, I would have the same problem at this HD with their birch ply? Would any of the board choices work well with birch? I wish they would just carry some matching boards, it would make life easier. :) (the only combination they stock is red oak)

Thanks for any suggestions. YJJim

[Chris Merrill]

YJJim wrote: > (I'd prefer a uniform look)? Or

Depends partially on how you plan to finish it... stain? dye? natural? paint?

And, yes, for the best match you should probably find a lumber yard that carries maple.

[George M. Kazaka]

If you are going to do something serious with it be carefull it is not that good of a board . The plys are good and you may find if they honest with you that the backs are actually Birch All in all it is not a bad board for the price, A freind has bought about 5 or 6 skids of it in the last 6 months and use's it for Kitchen cabinets but nothing that shows. My industrial supplier said he can't even come close to that price for the same material,

[David Babcock]

[George M. Kazaka]

Not All Home Depots are created equal, When in the Washington DC area I used to get color caulking that match all the Kohler bath fixtures from Home Depot Out here is AZ they do not have it,

Even in this area I am with 10 miles of about 6 Home Depots and they all do not carry the same products.

Dave where in Mass are you from ?????

$Fm2.458842@attbi_s04...

[YJJim]

Not totally sure right now, but definitely not paint or stain. I will probably either leave it natural or darken it just a little with a dye. (I haven't worked with maple before, but I hear it does not stain well)

I figure if I mix woods that I will have to dye it to get the colors to look somewhat uniform.

Thanks, Jim

[Fred the Red Shirt]

All of the Home Depots around here have Maple boards but none have Maple Plywood. Go figure.

You can get Maple veneer edge-banding by mail order. If you can find Birch edge-banding locally that will probably look good. Or the contrast of Cherry or Walnut might look good on Maple plywood.

[jegan]

FWIW, my HD does carry solid maple. Not a lot of it, but enough to do trim/facing. I bought some a few weeks ago to do some trim around cabinets that I had put in.

Jim

[Dick Durbin]

The last time they had maple plywood I got some with a lot of birdseye figure in it. I have the prettiest router table and rolling shop cart you ever saw.

Dick Durbin

[Cape Cod Bob]

Many HDs do carry maple boards (at least in NJ and MA). Check with other sin your area. Unless you live in a really remote place, there are probably two, three or dozen more within a hour's drive.

[YJJim]

Thanks,

I was in the Rockler store that just opened here in Atlanta yesterday and picked up some birch edge banding. It should do fine for this project.

Several people have indicated that the maple ply from HD is not good quality. I am just a newbie and don't know much about plywood quality (other than voids are bad, thick veneer on the top and bottom is good but impossible to find, and the more plys the better). The maple I got from HD appears to be 7 ply (5 normal plys and the surfaces are thin veneer). I am using these to build cabinets/book shelves in the closet of my home office. I want a wood look, but since they are in the closet, it doesn't have to be "top" quality wood (but should still look nice).

Any suggestions about what I should be looking for for better ply? Would maple or birch plywood from a real lumber yard be better quality than the HD stuff? If so, how can I tell?

Thanks again for everyone's comments, YJJim

[CnA]

[e-mail] (YJJim) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I picked up a few sheets. The outer veneers are about 1/16" thick, but not bonded very well. I had the worst chip out I have ever had with plywood. Got really bad chipout when using a zero clearance insert and cutting with a Freud 80 tooth Ultimate cross cut. Never had this much of a problem before.

It's ok for shop cabinets, but not for fine work.

[Matt]

The other day I was at HD browsing the Oak boards and came across 1 piece of maple (1X2). It seemed kind of out of place seeing that it was the only one, but I could tell by looking at the wood and the barcode sticker on it confirmed it.

Maybe they do get some in once in a while? I don't know, I didn't ask them.

M@