Thread: Plywood advice

Structural CD grade will serve you well. The CD refers to the face finishes. If you want better faces you go to BC or AB. You pay more as the grade improves. All structural ply is A bonded which means the glue line is waterproof.

If you can, find a plywood supplier. I'm not sure about Perth but here in Melbourne, my supplier is cheaper and for better quality.

For example, I can get a 18x2400x1200 sheet of C/D radiata pine for about $55. Bunnings price is about $85. The quality is much nicer as well.

Bunnings in melb only have radiata pine structural ply for building purposes. I think Jay's is a hardwood ply

I think the options, in terms of hardwood are: birch, poplar and a SE Asian hardwood ply. I think birch is considered the best, but its veyr expensive


there is also hoop pine ply which is also considered good.


other members here will have more info though

Look for a plywood/laminate supplier

Would be interested to hear people's thoughts on ply vs just melamine. its so much cheaper and most kitchens are made out of melamine and are fine.

Just bear in mind that the chance of finding any radiata ply that's flat is pretty slim, hardwood is much better in that regard.

I'd be using melamine over ply; it's flat, stable and has a nice smooth surface that doesn't require any treatment.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Just bear in mind that the chance of finding any radiata ply that's flat is pretty slim, hardwood is much better in that regard.

I'd be using melamine over ply; it's flat, stable and has a nice smooth surface that doesn't require any treatment.

I'm open to all suggestions and I had considered melamine but had sort of dismissed it as I thought (with no actual knowledge) that it may not be as receptive to my joining method which will be pocket holes and glue. Perhaps you can educate me on that.

Sheet goods shouldn't be joined with pocket holes in general; there's not enough thickness for a screw to bite.

You should drill pilot holes and screw straight through from the outside, no glue needed.

Titebond make a glue specifically for melamine.

There is no real need for adhesive if particle board type screws are used. The aggressive thread holds well in sheet products including plywood.
As Elan has already pointed out, some structural ply products can be a long way from flat. This doesn't mean all structural ply is crap it just means you need to be selective. The thinner material 12mm and less is the worst. The thicker stuff 16mm and up is usually pretty good if it's Australian made. Some of the imported stuff leaves a lot to be desired. Check the brand stamp on the back of the sheet.

Form ply from green shed is fairly good and has the advantage of sealed surface easy to slide material on. As said by others, use partical board screws countersunk and a pilot bit

My favourite material for these sort of projects is formply, it's like melamine but with pine plywood inside instead of weetbix. I prefer the plywood, I feel it holds a screw better and I like that nothing sticks to the exterior.
And if I need to glue something I'm used to setting the router table at 1mm and do a light pass to remove just the lining quickly.

Now the thing I don't understand is that Bunnings seems to have these seemingly identical boards but the smaller size ones are half the price for the same surface. I have no idea why, I asked them and they didn't have a clue either.

Full sheet $88
https://www.bunnings.com.au/carter-h...rmply_p0390072

Quarter sheet $11
https://www.bunnings.com.au/carter-h...rmply_p0390167

Exact same brand, specs and description, only the size differs... any idea why the price difference?
I asked them maybe it's a small batch, limited offer etc and they said no they've had them at these prices for years. I asked where they're made they said "both China".
Anyway I actually prefer the smaller size, I'd probably get them to cut the big ones anyway, so for $11 I'm buying them all the time, I literally get 1 or 2 every time I'm in there...

I use Formply. Cheap, the laminations are usually even and void free. Cheap for it's quality. A reasonably tough laminate coating is already on it. Most of the other plywood from bunnings is overpriced and average quality. Just made a height adjustable workbench out of it along with the tops on my miter saw station. Laminating two or three together creates an extremely strong thicker board.

Originally Posted by Bohdan

Titebond make a glue specifically for melamine.

I'm halfway through building kitchen cabinets out of 16.5mm Melamine, and can attest that the Titebond Melamine Glue is absolutely amazing. I tried to dismantle a cabinet I built wrong the next day and that thing was never coming apart. I was dubious about how it could bond to the smooth, non-porous melamine, but it works like magic!

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Form ply from green shed is fairly good and has the advantage of sealed surface easy to slide material on. As said by others, use partical board screws countersunk and a pilot bit

I agree with all above. Form ply is an excellent sheeting material especially for outdoor uses. Years ago I made an engine box & instrument panel for my old putt putt boat. The raw edges were sealed with very thin epoxy and the painted surface stayed intact for years.

It could be a bit heavy for our intended use.

mick

Hi lewisc, who is your melbourne supplier?