Thread: Plywood Question

Gaboon ply, and oakume ply, which I buy from Caporn’s in brookvale, is excellent quality and used for boat building. I’ve had some of that Russian birch stuff too which has been good. Generally i think marine grade is the best quality in substrate and adhesive.
EDIT: just looking up caporn’s number and it appears they have permanently closed.
Another supplier of top quality marine and other plywood is Bruynzeel, which are also at Brookvale.

Poplar ply is quite flat and stable, also very light weight. Not as strong as some of the others though, so give it a miss if it needs to take a lot of load

Chris there.s a bloke in Unanderra Called Joes plywood I think.Might be worth checking out. Interesting place.

cheers....roy

Thanks Roy, I once offered him a lot of work for his CNC which was doing nothing and after three attempts I gave up. I tried to ring him this arvo and no answer but I will give it another go on Monday.

there's places like Mr ply and plyco some deliver as well

if its from bunnings don't bother unless you're prepared to brace it like your life depends on it

Has anyone built anything out of the Red Oak Plywood from Bunnings?. I got some 7mm stuff about 8 months back, its not warped yet and I've been conducting some experimentation with staining it. Have to say the veneer looks very nice stained. First image is raw, second/mix of Jarrah & Walnut, third/very light stain of Jarrah, Sorry about the shadow on the last one...

IMG_7762.jpg IMG_7760.jpg IMG_7761.jpg

I like it for the nice grain and light weight, makes nice drawer bottoms but is inconsistent at least for me to get locally. A lot of the time they don't have it.

I've heard some people have problems with it delaminating.

Originally Posted by hurcorh

I like it for the nice grain and light weight, makes nice drawer bottoms but is inconsistent at least for me to get locally. A lot of the time they don't have it.

I've heard some people have problems with it delaminating.

I saw some of the Bunnings reviews myself where people say they've had problems with it delaminating. I'm unsure
what their process is in using the stuff but I'm tempted to have a go at making a storage cabinet with it. Before applying my test stains I hit it with both 240grit and 600grit sandpaper which got it silky smooth and never had any
break through of the top veneer.

I'm planning on making alot of new storage cabinets for my garage out of plywood and want them to look nice. The red oak seems to fit the bill so far but unsure how it cuts or joins. I might make a quick shaker style door out of it and see how it holds up.... thoughts?

Its also quite easy to find matching Red Oak edge banding for the stuff on Amazon.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

I know most of the plywood we buy in this country is rubbish but I still have to ask the question, is it possible to by good quality 12mm ply in Oz that does not bend five minutes after it is pulled out of the pack? Cost is not a factor here and marital relations may be on the line!

Birch prices are going fairly nuts but still i'd go with Birch over Hoop Pine plywood personally. Not sure where you live to suggest suppliers.

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

I saw some of the Bunnings reviews myself where people say they've had problems with it delaminating. I'm unsure
what their process is in using the stuff but I'm tempted to have a go at making a storage cabinet with it. Before applying my test stains I hit it with both 240grit and 600grit sandpaper which got it silky smooth and never had any
break through of the top veneer.

I'm planning on making alot of new storage cabinets for my garage out of plywood and want them to look nice. The red oak seems to fit the bill so far but unsure how it cuts or joins. I might make a quick shaker style door out of it and see how it holds up.... thoughts?

Its also quite easy to find matching Red Oak edge banding for the stuff on Amazon.

For shaker doors it should be ok and if they do it in 18mm don't see why it won't work for cabinets.

Originally Posted by hurcorh

For shaker doors it should be ok and if they do it in 18mm don't see why it won't work for cabinets.

I think they have it in 7, 12, 18mm so should be alright. I'm ganna see how it holds up to laminating several pieces together... Is there any alternative to the usual Titbond glue?. When I used it to laminate MDF, I had some warping probably due to to it being water based?. What solvent based glues are their for wood/ply?.

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

I think they have it in 7, 12, 18mm so should be alright. I'm ganna see how it holds up to laminating several pieces together... Is there any alternative to the usual Titbond glue?. When I used it to laminate MDF, I had some warping probably due to to it being water based?. What solvent based glues are their for wood/ply?.

Techniglue epoxy works well but slow cure time and messy to work with.
Polyurethane is good but without even and consistent clamp pressure it can be a bit of a pain. Don't over-do it otherwise it gets messy and once it starts foaming up don't try to clean the excess off just let it skin over first.

For constant clamping i recently got a rocketroar vacuum kit.

Works brilliantly and doesn't need a compressor

Originally Posted by taz01

For constant clamping i recently got a rocketroar vacuum kit.

Works brilliantly and doesn't need a compressor

I got one of them aswell, haven't used it yet though, cant get out of the habit of using clamps atm!.