Thread: Plywood question - furniture

The stuff you can buy at Bunnings has its uses and it can look good. The photo below shows drawers I made for my workbench from Bunnings plywood.

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The biggest problem is the number of voids. In my case, this was for workshop furniture. I really didn't care that much and the exposed portions have a 10mm timber edge. There will also be a number of voids in at least one surface that will be filled. I got a bit lucky with the cut list serendipitously avoiding them. These were sanded on a drum sander to 150 and finished with Livos.

You can buy premium grade Hoop Pine plywood which is an excellent quality product, the last time I used it.

Finnish Birch plywood is available from some suppliers, but you will pay a premium price for it.

Agree, Bunnings ply can look good but you can do a lot nicer and obviously more expensive from specialist sellers.
Try google "plywood for furniture" or similar.

Look up the grades, depends if the face veneer is A or D grade or anything inbetween

Look on the back of the sheet, it should state if it is interior, exterior or marine grade, The difference is in the glue used and the quality of the veneers. Exterior and marine grade ply us a type A bond and marine grade has selected quality and specific timber species. Ply wood manufacturers work to specific standards with regard to the number of voids and the number and maximum size of repairs. If I need to use plywood, I will go for exterior grade and in necessary will go through the pack to select the quality f sheet to suit the purpose.

Hope that will help you make a decision...

Jim

Thanks for feedback guys!

Mark has already mentioned surface voids. The other issue you will encounter with lower quality plywood are voids in the inner layers which will not only cause weakness, but also may result in surface depressions if within the first few layers. And it looks ugly if an edge exposes one.

If you like the industrial look, I have found that form ply to be generally good quality at a good price from Bunnings. I assume they stock the same product across the country.

I would however encourage you to look for dedicated ply suppliers in your area, as their reputation will rest on the quality of their product. A local supplier to me sells quality plywood, at not that much more than Bunnings.

Kind regards,
Lance

I second LanceC advise to going to a lumber yard that sells Plywood in your area.

I built a large built in book case a few years ago and was in the hunt for some decent quality plywood, Bunnings proved way to expensive when you start getting in "furniture grade" plywood.

I found a local supplier that imported his own plywood that was BB grade front and back for significantly less than Bunning's C grade ply.

In terms of general advice ultimately depends on what you're building, if shop furniture C grade is fine, anything else i'll recommend minimum B grade. If you're painting and happy to spend time filling voids you could get away with C grade and loads of putty and sanding.

Don't bother with the structural stuff if whatever you're building is fairly small, by small i mean bookcase, table etc.

Marine ply is obviously the most expensive option but if you're not going to be painting its your best bet, avoid "British standard" marine ply, as it doesn't really mean much and often imported by people who don't really know what they're selling you. Yes its cheaper than aussie standard marine, but loads of voids that wouldn't pass aussie standards and quality is poor.

I'd also recommend solid wood edge banding your plywood, yes time consuming but results are well worth it and also increases structural rigidity of your plywood which will help minimise warping etc

If you're on the Northside of Brisbane, check out Jandens at Brendale. They have a good range in the shed. Sometimes they have offcuts of really nice stuff that you can get for cheaper.

Thanks again everyone for feedback. Will have a look at local suppliers