Working with Agathis - Part 2

[steve-norrell]

Here are some photos of the Agathis veneered plywood that I got from the Borg. Its clearly not of true baltic birch quality, but . . . .

Overall, I have to reaffirm my opinion that is somewhat better than the birch veneered stuff from the same source. There are some voids, but fewer than with the birch and certainly not enough to affect the application here; cabinets painted on the outside and poly-coated on the inside. The cross-section photo of the rabbet joint is pretty typical of the rest of the sheet.

There was a tiny curl to the sheet, but not enough to make it unuseable.

I was pleased with the grain pattern of the veneer, especially with the Quick-Dry poly from MinWax. All photos were taken from the same sheet of plywood.

I hope this is helpful. I don't know how widely the Agathis sheets are available or for how long the Borg will have them. In Anchorage, they are about $5/sheet cheaper than birch veneered ply.

Regards, Steve

[poolhound]

I saw some last week in my local BORG. The ones they had didnt look too good to me, there was some surface flaws and quite a few already showed some bowing. Like most of their ply I guess it depends on the batch you get.

[Bruce Cohen]

I'd rather go blind than buy any sheet goods from HD. Which sums it up perfectly.

Bruce

[steve-norrell]

I'd rather go blind than buy any sheet goods from HD. Which sums it up perfectly.

Bruce

Good point and well taken. Sometimes you don't really have too many other options, especially when you are the the end of the supply line.

I just bought another piece and we had to go three down to find one that was pretty flat. As I said, "It ain't baltic birch, but its OK for painted cabinets." (Especially when you're careful which sheets to buy.)

Regards, SN

[crokett]

MDF is also ok for painted cabinets and I find far less quality issues with it. Also generally better for the environment (made of sawdust waste) and it is cheaper.

[steve-norrell]

I agree that MDF is a better choice for some reasons, and I may well use it for the base cabinets. I am going with the plywood for the wall cabinets because it is noticeably lighter when I have to lift them up to hang on the wall. I thought of using 1/2 in. MDF to save weight, but decided on the "3/4in" plywood instead.

Regards, Steve