[Cmac08]

I am making some cabinets for my shop... Red oak faceframe and doors and drawer fronts.... I'm wanting nice cabinets but not super expensive since it is just my shop.... I can get this plywood fairly cheap but will it do the job? I'm not sure the actual name of it but it is birch and one side is grade A and the other side is grade C.... Will I be wasting time and money if I use this... I figure it will take me about 7 sheets to do my whole shop.... I have never used this ply so any input would be awesome! Thanks

 

[Fred Hargis]

It will work, and probably be acceptable for shop cabinets. It can be awful stuff....if it's Chinese import. Consider buying one sheet, and build a cabinet out of it, then decide. But it may have metal pieces in it, be of an inconsistent thickness, and some of it really stinks (seriously) when you saw it. I've seen some where the plies were apparently crushed to get whatever thickness they intended during manufacturer. Not trying to be pessimistic, because sometimes it's a lot better than I described...just get a sheet and try it.

 

[Wizard1500]

I would stay away from Chinese ply....3 years ago, I had $500 worth delaminate, after cutting dados in it (happened overnight. I won't use ply made in China, now....just finished a project and used ply mfg in Mexico...it was alright.....

 

[GeorgeC]

for shop cabinets I use whatever I HAVE OR CAN BUY CHEAP.



gEORGE

 

[Tom Clark NM]

I am making some cabinets for my shop... Red oak faceframe and doors and drawer fronts.... I'm wanting nice cabinets but not super expensive since it is just my shop....

Hey Cmac,

Since you are already using red oak for the face frames and drawer fronts - as all the cabinets in this photo, why not go ahead and use red oak for the ends? It doesn't take that much wood, and red oak is usually about $45 a sheet at the borgs - not that much more than the cheap stuff. If it is $10 bucks a sheet more, you will appreciate spending the extra $70 20 years from now.

Most of these cabinets are over 20 years old, and still look great. Maybe mixing red oak and birch might look a little weird…

 

[Cmac08]

Tom I completely agree...for the price.why take the chance? And yes they are just shop cabinets but this is a new shed/wood shop and also my man cave.... So appearance is a variable... I just had never used this stuff and was wondering if it's worth it.... And I bought one sheet and omg it STINKS!!!! And the one piece I cut I ran a piece of metal threw my TS!!!!! It was just a reall little piece of tin almost but WTF... Thanks guys

 

[chopnhack]

I picked up some AC pine plywood from home depot a few days back for about $37/sheet. Let's just say 37 bucks doesn't get you very far these days..... :thumbdown:

 

[Steve Neul]

The pine sanded pine plywood Home Depot sells is some more Chinese junk. I tried it for a couple of weeks thinking it looked better than the other Chinese plywood I quit using but it wasn't long before I had to get a knife and a iron and glue down some delaminating veneer. The domestic Pure Bond plywood isn't much better. They run the outer layer of veneer over knot holes in the core veneer. The plywood looks fine until you start finishing it and the veneer wrinkles up because there is nothing but air under it. If it wasn't so heavy I would go back to MDF for the cabinet boxes.

 

[BZawat]

The pine sanded pine plywood Home Depot sells is some more Chinese junk. I tried it for a couple of weeks thinking it looked better than the other Chinese plywood I quit using but it wasn't long before I had to get a knife and a iron and glue down some delaminating veneer. The domestic Pure Bond plywood isn't much better. They run the outer layer of veneer over knot holes in the core veneer. The plywood looks fine until you start finishing it and the veneer wrinkles up because there is nothing but air under it. If it wasn't so heavy I would go back to MDF for the cabinet boxes.

True story. The knotholes in the cross band slices are inherent of a fir core plywood, regardless of the brand. We switched to a poplar core VC ply by Columbia and its much better, FAR fewer knotholes.

I'd say avoid any big box plywood, its garbage. If you can't source better plywood at a reasonable cost, consider using melamine or MDF for your sides and finishing with an oak veneer.

 

[jigs-n-fixtures]

Bite the bullet and buy a higher grade plywood like appleply, or one of the cabinet grades that have the thin band of mdf between the body plys, and the face veneer, (Sorry I can't remember what they call it, but it was manufactured by States Industries).

Or, go with MDO, and painted bodies if you need strength, or melamine if you don't.

 

[cabinetman]

The grading systems used by the suppliers of the box store plywoods don't correlate with the grading used by the HPVA. So, the "A" and "C" ratings are not the same as used for domestic plywoods.

.

 

[Cmac08]

I went ahead and went with the oak.... Thanks guys