Lowes "Cabinet Grade" hardwood plywood

[depictureboy]

Well I was in BORG yesterday and Lowes today checking out their hardwood plywood. My local borg has C-3 Oak and Birch Ply for 46 bucks a sheet. Lowes has "Cabinet Grade" maple/birch and oak ply for 47. NO edgestamps on the plywood to really tell me about grades. So I ask the guys loading it up, what the grade is since there is no edge stamp, and they look at me like I am dumb..."Everything you need to know is on that placard" Um no. "Well cabinet grade means its top of the line"..Erm well is it AA, A, B CD or E? "Huh? I says cabinet grade thats the best". Sigh....

[B A R R Y]

Why torture yourself?

Simply deal with a real dealer and heal thyself!

---------------------------------------------

** **

---------------------------------------------

[Lew Hodgett]

Amen Bro.

Lew

[ed_h]

I'm no apologist for HD or the like, but I'm not sure I've ever seen the A-B-C-D grades applied to hardwood veneer plywood--only to the constrruction grade product. I believe the letters refer to the quality of the two faces, with A sutiable for paint.

I'm guessing that "Cabinte grade" just means that it has a hardwood veneer on at least one side, suitable for clear finishes.

[Jim]

I'm no apologist for HD or the like, but I'm not sure I've ever seen the A-B-C-D grades applied to hardwood veneer plywood--only to the constrruction grade product. I believe the letters refer to the quality of the two faces, with A sutiable for paint.

I'm guessing that "Cabinte grade" just means that it has a hardwood veneer on at least one side, suitable for clear finishes.

No, the hardwood plywood folks use letter grades and number grades. The letter grades apply to the good face while the number grades apply to the bad face. And, you can buy hardwood plywood which is good on both faces. You will pay lots more for A-A grade.

Jim

[Puckdropper]

ed_h wrote in news:8db358cc-6b37-4868-b36e- [e-mail]:

I always took "cabinet grade" to mean several thinner plies. HD has some stuff they sell as just "Cabinet grade" that's got around 13 plies. (They usually sell it around here for about $25 a sheet, 3/4" equivalent.)

Puckdropper

[Rich]

Yeah and you still might get it cheaper depending on what you need.

[depictureboy]

This was an edgestamp. Not a facestamp. Hardwood plywood is edgestamped. Construction grade is face stamped usually with 2 letters. Hardwood has a letter and number...At least thats what I have been reading in several woodworking books. One by popular woodworking has an entire grid detailing what each means. It also details the grades for softwood construction plywood. Just fyi..

For instance my local dealer carries B1 for about 100 bucks a sheet. Home depot was C3 for bout 45. Lowes wasnt marked, which from what I have read means its not really graded, because the grading is ? required?. I am not sure if that is correct.

[Hoosierpopi]

(Almost) Every time I go into Lowes or Home Depot and ask a question, I wind up asking the fellow (the lladies don't seem to fall into this category) "What are the three (3) most important words in retail?"

This, after listening to his answer to my initial question only to realize - sometimes after a full minute or more of "answer -" that he doesn't have a clue and is fabricating his answer out of whole cloth based upon his six months' experience ar Lowes or HD (or Staples, Office Depot, the list goes on) and two recent "Product Classes" he attended much as he did his High School Calculus.

"No, what are they," is the typical response - or words to that effect.

To which I reply, "the three most important words in Retail are I, don't, know." Excuse the contraction - never noticed that 'till now.

And, I follow it up with "The next (four) most important words to learn and practice are "But I'll find out."

They seldom do

[Jim]

This was an edgestamp. Not a facestamp. Hardwood plywood is edgestamped. Construction grade is face stamped usually with 2 letters. Hardwood has a letter and number...At least thats what I have been reading in several woodworking books. One by popular woodworking has an entire grid detailing what each means. It also details the grades for softwood construction plywood. Just fyi..

For instance my local dealer carries B1 for about 100 bucks a sheet. Home depot was C3 for bout 45. Lowes wasnt marked, which from what I have read means its not really graded, because the grading is ? required?. I am not sure if that is correct.

The grading is not required. However, nobody makes you buy ungraded plywood. The sheet of "cabinet grade" oak plywood that I bought from Lowe's was marked C-2. This was the first time that I have seen a sheet at Lowes that had any sort of grading. If you carefully select the sheets, you can find one which is acceptable for cabinetry. None of the sheets are furniture grade though. For such as that, I would want A-2 or better. There is an AA grade for the face veneer. Jim

[Pat Barber]

plywood products have a "grade"...

Cabinet Grade is a "term" not a "grade".

ed_h wrote:

[Bigpole]

There's only one grade for that oak and birch plywood at Home Depot and Lowe's and that is the grade "crap". The plywood delaminates and warps.

[depictureboy]

However, nobody makes you buy ungraded

Nope and I walked right out of there without any. hehe

[george]

My local Lowe's hardwood plywood is marked on the edge that it is made in China. I don't know how THAT can be cost effective, even if I wasn't worried about what chemicals it contains. (You have seen the article on fake chicken eggs from China, haven't you? 100% chemicals and NOT food grade.)

If you want to see some NICE hardwood plywood and live in the SF Bay Area, stop by Southern Lumber...not cheap but it is excellent quality.

[Rick Samuel]

Very cost effective. Buy our logs, take em 30 miles offshore to a processing ship. Make the product. Ship it back 30 miles. No EPA to boot.

[NoOne N Particular]

That's fine if you have one reasonably close to you.

Wayne

[B A R R Y]

If you have Borgs, you have a dealer nearby.