oak plywood - Woodworking Talk

43longtime · 10-29-2008, 12:02 AM

what are the different grades of oak?

In order from best to worst could you rate them?

thanks...

chris

GeorgeC · 10-29-2008, 06:40 AM

In my part of the country I have never seen anything other than one grade of oak plywood.

G

43longtime · 10-29-2008, 08:19 AM

really i can get c2, a1 and some others

**Daren** · 10-29-2008, 08:36 AM

http://home.howstuffworks.com/plywood.htm that link pretty much explains it.

cabinetman · 10-29-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 43longtime

what are the different grades of oak?

In order from best to worst could you rate them?

thanks...

chris

Depending on where you are shopping the grading may be different. Oak plywood is basically sold in two flavors. Red Oak and White Oak.

The home centers primarily sell Red Oak, and it's likely imported. The grading used is a construction type grading from accepted plywood grading associations (APA and DFPA), which uses an alpha character for the face and back veneer quality.

If you buy from a good lumber yard or a hardwood distributor, the grading will be for decorative use, an alpha character for the face (usually only A or B), and a numeric designation for the back veneer...1 - being the best, 4 - being the worst.

The face veneer can be a rotary cut, which is like a log being pinned at both ends and a long knife slices the veneer off as it turns. This is what the home centers usually sell. Rotary cut faces are more of a random pattern, versus a finely grained pattern of sliced veneer. A sliced face, are slices taken from the log longitudinally. The width of those slices when glued up to make up the 4' width are called "flitches". The different cuts from a log are described and pictured here.

red · 10-29-2008, 10:46 AM

Cabinetman explained it correctly. Most of the box home centers sell one grade and that’s it. If you ever walked into a plywood wholesaler, you would be amazed at what is available to the trade. For example, I usually ordered sheet goods in an A-1 grade in plain sliced or rotary depending on the wood type and project. The back of the project would get an A-3 or 4. Red

43longtime · 10-29-2008, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cabinetman

Depending on where you are shopping the grading may be different. Oak plywood is basically sold in two flavors. Red Oak and White Oak.

The home centers primarily sell Red Oak, and it's likely imported. The grading used is a construction type grading from accepted plywood grading associations (APA and DFPA), which uses an alpha character for the face and back veneer quality.

If you buy from a good lumber yard or a hardwood distributor, the grading will be for decorative use, an alpha character for the face (usually only A or B), and a numeric designation for the back veneer...1 - being the best, 4 - being the worst.

The face veneer can be a rotary cut, which is like a log being pinned at both ends and a long knife slices the veneer off as it turns. This is what the home centers usually sell. Rotary cut faces are more of a random pattern, versus a finely grained pattern of sliced veneer. A sliced face, are slices taken from the log longitudinally. The width of those slices when glued up to make up the 4' width are called "flitches". The different cuts from a log are described and pictured here.

thanks for the good explanation.

So i have a question then a-1 oak that is like the best you can get then? If i am understanding you. So one side is "A" grade witch is the best then the other is "1" grade witch is the best to then if i am understanding you right.

So "a-1" grade oak would work great for making bookcases with oak sides and a solid oak face frame then.

thanks...
chris

Gus Dering · 10-29-2008, 08:38 PM

Cabinet man's explanation is very good.
I can get red oak and white oak in most of the configurations mentioned. It helps to be in an area with alot of people. It has been my experience that smaller markets simply can not afford to stock all the different choices. Especially when you start adding in all the different core choices.
There is a grade above A-1. You can find AA-1 for several species, often sequenced matched.
There is alot of great quality oak in the market right now since popularity has declined in the last 15 - 20 years.
As far as the bookcase mentioned. If you can not find material suitable on both sides then a double partition is the only choice. I recently did a closet in cherry and was able to get some A-1 with a no sap back that was good enough for a single partition.

The simple answer was handled by Cabinetman. But generally the A-1 plain sliced is about as good as you need most all the time.
A shop grade rotary cut will be the most affordable. Not always ugly either.

That reminds me of one more thing about plywood grading.
When a supplier says they have "shop grade" that is an A grade knock down. They were slotted to be A grade and something did not quite make grade. Every unit of A grade plywood they buy has a certain percentage of "shop" in it. It will be stamped that way on the end of the sheet.
If the supplier will allow you to flip through a unit of shop for a few good sheets you could save yourself about 20% or so. There may be a blem that you need to cut around, but you can find some nice material in the shop grade from time to time. Not always, especially cherry.