Native Birch 11 plies plywood at HD for $27

[wmartins]

Yesterday I went to HD (Deerfield Beach, FL) to buy some $40 white birch plywood for a shop cabinet, and to my surprise I found this 8' x 4' x 3/4' made in china boards, native birch for $27. They look pretty nice and they are really inexpensive compare to the usual white birch or sandply boards.
I got the ripped by half but I have not started to work with them yet.
Anyone bougth/used them already ? Is there any problem with them ? They seem to good for the price.
Walter.

[wassaw998]

I have had good and bad experiences. The bad I believe came from China, I set it in my basement and the ply began to warp and delaminate. Cutting into it showed a ton of voids. It was a waste of my money. The good (was not China) was very good stuff.

[Jim W]

HD birch ply

I had a very poor experience with HD's birch ply unless you are making propellers. The sheet I bought was of uneven thickness, had many voids, it had delamination problems, and it warped after being cut. Save money by not buying this waste of natural resources. Our local Menards has a birch ply that costs about twice of HD's but is of much better quality. I will be using over a third of the HD birch ply for firewood.

[drumpriest]

I've mostly had good luck with Borg ply, but I did have 2 sheets that were terrible. There is definitely a quality control issue with the China ply. I've had better luck with the Oak, but it depends upon the run. My local borg had a bad palette or two, so I avoided using it until other unfortunate people had purchased it.

My best score there was finding some spalted birch ply in a stack.

[Deadhead]

It may help if people dated their good and bad experiences. If it was a quality control a year ago and the problem has been corrected, still talking about last year's problems could be misleading.

[wmartins]

Thanks for all replies.
Please do not confuse the White Birch (7 plies, I think) usually available at HD with this Made in China "Native Birch", I have not seen this one before since three years ago when I starting buying plywood at HD/.
Regards,
W.

[LarryG]

It may help if people dated their good and bad experiences. If it was a quality control a year ago and the problem has been corrected, still talking about last year's problems could be misleading.

That's a good point. Or, it might be a problem that comes and goes, if they buy their materials from the low bidder on each lot order.

[wassaw998]

My good experience was BEFORE my bad experience, FWIW. Both have been a while ago. I suppose the OP can shell out the $27 and let us know how the lot he's seeing is , but, from all of my research the quality will vary between stores as much as between times. So, really, if the stuff at his store is good, that has no real bearing on what I may find at mine - least that's my experience. When I got the good stuff folks were grumbling that their's was bad, and vice versa. If you are only looking for 1 sheet, give it a shot and if its junk, I'd march it back to HD and get a refund. If you are looking for a lot of sheets, well, ...do ya feel lucky....?

[newood2]

My experience with that plywood is if it looks good buy it and use it right away. That means having your project plans and measuements ready for cutting. If it sits around it will warp on you.
Also, the outer laminate is very thin which cause it to chip easily, so before you cut it score the cut line with a utility knife or pre-run on the tablesaw with the blade raise about 1/32". May not be necessary if the edges will be hidden.
What's nice about it is the clear finish is awesome.

Howie

[Holbren]

That is a good price for domestic. Do you know the grade they are calling it? Any chance it can be shop ply, usually stamped "shop" on the edge.

I've been buying aspen core maple from my wholesaler but it still costs me about $45 a sheet for B-2 which is a lot for shop and painted projects.

[wmartins]

HD call it cabinet grade. I started cutting some pieces yesterday, and the outter ply chips very easily. On the good side, there are virtually not void inside. I can also feel the boards are ligther than "White Birch" boards.
I'm using it for a shop cabinet so I think it is a very nice deal.
W.

[scorrpio]

So far, 'cabinet grade' ply I got from HD has behaved. I used some in the shop, some elsewhere, and I still have a sheet of it sitting in my basement, waiting its turn. Haven't warped or delaminated yet, and the quality (IMO) is good enough for kitchen cabinet carcasses - better side going inside. I do examine the sheets carefully before buying though.

[LinuxRandal]

My local borg, has the $27 maple ply. Sometimes it looks better the the $40+ hardwood, other times that looks better, but I haven't seen anything OTHER then the Chinese stuff, in a couple of years.

So I am wondering what you all think of their Melamine? It certainly is more consistant, and priced similarly. Would I be better off with that for shop cabinets?


Thanks

[Russianwolf]

Checked my local BORG today. They have the Chinese "Regal" Birch and a similar product in Poplar (never seen that before). The Birch is $26 and the Poplar is $35 IIRC. This is at the Hagerstown store.


I may try some of it for shop cabinets and see how it does. The vaneer can't be any thinner than the $5 sheet of Maple ply I used for those cabinet tops (which my office mates ahve started using I have noticed).

[windwalker]

China seems to have a quality control issue. Look at what poor quality has done to the pet food industry in the US.