I just got back from a big box store after purchasing some 1/4 ” Oak plywood. I was awestruck when I read “made in China” on the end.
I know that lots of our materials are made here in the good ol’ USA but I just couldn’t believe that it would be profitible to send Oak over there and have them manufacture it and ship it back.
I also have seen the veneers getting thinner and thinner every year. You can barely sand it with 220 grit before you are through the veneer. It is also depressing that it is delaminating before you even get it out of the store.
Your thoughts,
Ebe
Replies
When I frame anything I've always used 1/2" ply. last couple jobs I was asked do you want 3 ply or 4 ply 1/2"? A lot of my peers are starting to go with 5/8" ply since the 1/2" is almost 3/8" thick anymore.
"it aint the work I mind,
It's the feeling of falling further behind."
Bozini Latini
http://www.ingrainedwoodworking.com
Hardwood plywood from the box stores is absolute junk. If you go to a hardwood dealer you can get pretty good plywood. The surface veneer is still thinner than I would like but at least it's not usually sanded through. The few times I've bought ply at a box store, it's always sanded through somewhere.
I haven't had any that was sanded through as I will sort through the whole pile to find the pieces that I want but was almost burned last week when I got out to the parking lot in better light and saw the veneer was coming off slightly and was kind of bubbled turned around and exchanged it for another piece.
Just glad that I am not alone in this feeling.
Ebe
I needed a 2'x3' of 3/4" A-C plywood, so grabbed a quarter sheet when I happened to be near a Home Depot (it's next to my bank). Brought it home and leaned it against the wall. A week later when I went to cut it, it was bowed out 4" in the middle. It would have been great if I was building a rounded front cabinet and needed a door. Is it possible to get CDX plywood anymore that is not 1/32" below the nominal thickness?
CDX is actually sold in 32's, not 1/4's, so the answer is no.
I know exactly what you mean.... i have had some of the same situation with my 4 x 8 sheets. Luckily I am cuttting most of them lengthwise or at worst into quarters for my built in TV cabinet that needs to be done by the end of the NCAA BB tourney!!!
Ebe
And therin lies the solution - stop buying the junk. If you don't want cheap crappy plywood, go to a yard that sells better quality stuff, and give them your business.
Stop rewarding bad behavior, if you want the behavior to stop.
stop buying the junk
That's pretty much the gist of it right there.
A big Amen, Harry! - lol
I quit buying plywood from the big boxes a couple of years ago when I got some truly AWFUL birch from Agent Orange.
I was all set to raise my prices to account for buying better materials when I realized that the extra cost was offset by reduced labor since I wasn't having to fight with that cr*p anymore.
A while back I heard that China was buying wood from the west coast of USA and Canada, taking the ships out to sea, milling the wood onboard the ships and then bringing it back to ports and selling the milled wood. Don't know if this is true. I don't get our willingness to let China screw us over in so many ways. It's not like there aren't any other countries willing to do it!
BTW, I read that the second largest importer of oil into the USA is Mexico (first is Canada)--that explains Bush's policies of letting Mexico ride roughshod into USA.
Danno,
I had heard similar things and wasn't sure do to the source but would explain alot of things. It really frustrates me when we have the man power, resources and the technology and ability to make and do things but we outsource for a savings of a few dollars..... in the long run we end up paying much, much more.
We as americans are very short sighted as we want to see the dollars in our wallet short term......if we were to mfg many of our products again we would at least be buttering our own bread and we would employ more people that would help share the finacial burdens that our middle class is enduring right now.
Sorry I forgot I am not running for political office.....
Ebe
Ebe
That ply is par for the course! If you wanted good cabinet ply you'd be buying it from a place that carries the good stuff, and that ain't the big box stores.
You get what you pay for!
Doug
It is also depressing that it is delaminating before you even get it out of the store.
@@@
Isn't that the truth.
The stuff will not take the weather. Our Habitat project had a few issues and was six months from framing day to dry-in. We replaced about a whole unit of ply. I suggested that next time they spray paint the exterior and interior floors with cheap mis tints to give some weather protection.
At work, we see Struc 1 every day and a unit every two weeks. Junque.
I do believe OSB to be a better product. Takes longer to fall apart.
The ToolBear
"I am still learning." Goya