There's no point to this message, other than I need to vent somewhere... :)
I'm building a new entertainment center and just bought three sheets of
3/4" birch plywood and one sheet of 1/2" birch plywood from my local Home Depot. This has to be some of the worst plywood I have ever purchased!I didn't notice it till I got home and unloaded, but the faces of the sheet had numerous blemishes and patches (both sides). I should have looked it over better at the store, BEFORE I started cutting. :) Thankfully, I managed to cut around the major blemishes, or hide them in places where they can't be seen. Unfortunately, this left me a little short, so now I need to pick up a quarter sheet to build the last two shelves.
The plywood is also riddled with numerous voids. I don't think I have made a cut yet that hasn't had pieces of the core falling out.
Even the grain pattern of the sheets is less than attractive. I'm not sure what kind of birch trees they got the wood from, but this stuff is ugly! :)
Perhaps worst of all, the surface veneers are extremely thin and fragile. It appears to be thinner than a sheet of paper. I bought brand new saw blades for making this project, and the chipout is absolutely horrible. I also sanded a couple of pieces yesterday, and can sand through the veneer in less than 20 seconds with 100 grit paper. Now my project is almost finished, and I'm almost scared to sand it for fear of sanding through the veneer and exposing the core.
Worst of all, I paid $40 a sheet for this stuff at Home Depot, and then saw MUCH better quality lumber at Lowes (where I normally get my plywood) for only $30 a sheet.
The plywood sucks, but a lot of the fault obviously lies with me. I made the mistake of shopping on a weekend, when the rest of the DIY crowd was crowding into the store. I thought the convenience of having my wife and daughter there to help load the cart would be nice. But, in my attempt to get in and out of the store, I didn't inspect the sheets closely enough.
Anyway, I'm almost finished with my entertainment center and am happy with the way it is turning out. Despite the poor quality lumber, I have managed to hide the worst blemishes. If I can pull off sanding the project next week without destroying it, there's still a chance it might turn out OK.
Live and learn...
Anthony