maple plywood at home depot

[codaman33]

I was at the brand new Home Depot by my house the other day, and what did they have in the plywood section but 3/4" maple plywood 4' X 8'. They wanted $55.00 a sheet for it. Has anyone use it or is familiar with their brand of maple plywood? I saw a previous post talking about it, but at the time, they were closing our Home Depot to move it down the street. And by the way, we now have the 2nd biggest Home Depot in the country right down the street from my house.

I was mainly interest in the plywood though. Thanks.

[pecker]

Look for a manufacturer's label. If it's Columbia Products, it's not too bad.

If it's labeled CHINA in blue ink around the edge, it's pretty lousy stuff.

[Gator95]

I was at the brand new Home Depot by my house the other day, and what did they have in the plywood section but 3/4" maple plywood 4' X 8'. They wanted $55.00 a sheet for it. Has anyone use it or is familiar with their brand of maple plywood? I saw a previous post talking about it, but at the time, they were closing our Home Depot to move it down the street. And by the way, we now have the 2nd biggest Home Depot in the country right down the street from my house.

I was mainly interest in the plywood though. Thanks.

If it's 5 layer-ply from Columbia Wood Products, then it's actually pretty good ply made in the USA. Would have "Columbia" or "Columbia Wood Products" stamped on one edge. I used it for a project last December and it cut and finished well. Minimal voids, veneer thickness was good enough for light sanding- aboout on par with what I get from the local lumberyard.

You'll may to search through the stack to find a good piece with a clean veneer- I pulled out the top five and I'd say one was close to shop-grade and two were C/D, two were B/C grade.

It's in a totally different class than the usual 'HD plywood' people complained about in the past.

[codaman33]

It has the columbia stamp on it. It looks really good also. What are the differences in shop-grade, C/D grade, and B/C grade? I have never heard of those terms before. Please enlighten the ignorant.

[mschrank]

It has the columbia stamp on it. It looks really good also. What are the differences in shop-grade, C/D grade, and B/C grade? I have never heard of those terms before. Please enlighten the ignorant.

Basically, the first letter is the grade of the veneer on one face, and the other letter is the grade of the veneer on the other face. "A" is highest, "D" is lowest.

Here's a complete rundown of all the various letters numbers on the back stamp:
http://www.tpub.com/content/construc...s/14043_75.htm

[Gator95]

It has the columbia stamp on it. It looks really good also. What are the differences in shop-grade, C/D grade, and B/C grade? I have never heard of those terms before. Please enlighten the ignorant.

http://www.cfpwood.com/products/default.aspx

'shop' grade is plywood that doesn't make the D grade. Contains unrepaired knots, and obvious aesthetic issues that would preclude it from being used in an exposed surface over >10-20% of the plywood surface.

At most lumberyards the ply is sold ANSI graded, with a price difference between different grades. At home depot, the ply is ungraded and all the same price so it is good to sort through yourself.

[cabinetman]

Basically, the first letter is the grade of the veneer on one face, and the other letter is the grade of the veneer on the other face. "A" is highest, "D" is lowest.

Here's a complete rundown of all the various letters numbers on the back stamp:
http://www.tpub.com/content/construc...s/14043_75.htm

If you are looking at "hardwood plywood" such as Maple and Oak at HD or Lowes and it's marked as such with an alpha character front and back it is being classified as a "construction" grade, and technically as a softwood face veneer. Hardwood plywood grading in decorative grades, which is a higher grade of plywood as used in the cabinet and furniture industry the grading has an alpha character for the face veneer, and a number designation for the back veneer, as described here.
.

[SARGE..g-47]

Clolumbia is the same brand I get from my hardwood supplier and is Green which means it does not contain toxics. Now.. with that said HD make have a special deal with Columbia Wood Products to supply them to their specs? I can't say but the Columbia I have seen locally at HD is not bad as compared the POS Imported ply they have carried for awhile. BTW... Columbia is not made in Columbia... it's made in the U.S. or Canada.

So... not bad depending on hard-wood grade as CM mentioned. But... at $55 a sheet I think I will stick with my supplier as I get contractor price which is lower. Funny.. I needed poplar Sunday to glue some re-sawn QSWO too. I didn't have any on hand. So.. I thought I would just drop by Lowe's and pick up some as I only needed about 20 BF.

Got there.. looked a the price and turned around and went home. They charged by the surfaced board and the poplar was almost $4.00 a board foot on their rack. That's more than I pay for QSWP.. I went and got it from my hardwood source the next morning for $1.20 a board foot.

Ain't life grand when you find a better way?

[sscherin]

I saw a pile of that HD Maple ply.. A side looked great.. B side had some patches and fills.
No voids that I noticed on the edges but you never know till you cut it up.

Thin hardly describes the thickness of the face veneer.. 1/32 or 1/64 maybe.

Anyone cut some? With the "Oak" ply I got from Lowes the super thin veneer chipped like crazy.

[Gator95]

I saw a pile of that HD Maple ply.. A side looked great.. B side had some patches and fills.
No voids that I noticed on the edges but you never know till you cut it up.

Thin hardly describes the thickness of the face veneer.. 1/32 or 1/64 maybe.

Anyone cut some? With the "Oak" ply I got from Lowes the super thin veneer chipped like crazy.

I've cut the 3/4" Columbia Maple Ply with a 80T blade on my Ridgid 3660 and a ZCI and had no tearout or chipout.

[Gator95]

I went and got it from my hardwood source the next morning for $1.20 a board foot.

Hmmm... think I may take a trip to Suwanee soon.

[billwheaton]

BTW... Columbia is not made in Columbia... it's made in the U.S. or Canada.

Columbia... as in Columbia South Carolina. They have a distribution point in Greenville SC. I had my HD guy at the contractor counter call about baltic birch 5 x 5 sheets, and while they had 1/2 in stock for $40, they had to wait for a shipment of 3/4 in a few days from Columbia's distribution center in Greenville. I think its around $72. 11-ply, I think. That was the week after Christmas.
-Bill