"Sandeply" is garbage!!!

[Douglas Robinson]

I bought a sheet of 3/4" Sandeply from the local BORG for my part cabinet. My opinion...NEVER again! This stuff stinks. It delaminates, chips, and the outer veneer scratches if you look at it hard.:evil:

Aside from expensive firewood, what do these stores think this stuff is for?

I am only buying 5 x 5 sheets of BB Plywood from now on.

Doug

 

[jerrye]

I've used Sandeply before and it has not done great for me. Warps, voids, soft veneers. It's reported to be a hardwood in it's description on Columbia's website, but it's soft! I saw a sheet of "Blondewood" at Lowe's the other day. Seemed OK and was cheaper than Sandeply. Anyone have experience with this? Might be OK for jigs & stuff?

 

[nelsone]

This has come up a few times before. Same concensus! The stuff is not good to work with. Finishes ok if you prime, sand, and paint, but I'd stear clear of it. It would be nice if the borgs could provide some decent sheetgoods.

 

[chris99z71]

There also seems to be a great deal of variation. Sometimes the stuff is OK, other times it's garbage. Sorry to hear that you got latter. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

 

[cpowell]

Except for shop cabs I try to steer clear of BORG ply for use in visible areas.

I have used their 3/4 oak and birch in the past for flat panels in frame and panel construction and it was okay although it took me a while sorting through the stack to find acceptable sheets. On my last few furniture projects I've bought cabinet grade ply, paying more for ease of use. I haven't bought any in a year.

I've noticed over the past 7 years that plywood veneers have become paper thin. Americans have shown they are price-driven consumers and the market has responded.

Where does everyone buy quality ply? I've thought of hitting up a local cabinet shop and paying retail for cab grade ply, piggy-backing on their order.

Chuck

 

[Travis Porter]

I hate all ply from the BORG except BC. The hardwood ply has gone way down as well.

I have bought some birch cabinet plywood in the past from Stock building supply. It had more plys and was stable. It has been a year, but even then it was better than BORG.

 

[McRabbet]

I refuse to buy even the poor grade of Oak or Birch plywoods at the BORG or Lowe's. I've used quality A-1, A-2 and B-2 White and Red Oak veneer core plywood purchased from Catawba Hardwoods (Hickory or Marion) and excellent quality B-2 Maple plywood from Steve Wall Lumber. Catawba also carries many other species and has Russian and Finnish Baltic Birch at very decent prices. Four months ago, a 3/4" sheet of A-1 White Oak was $77, but it was superb quality; B-2 was $42 IIRC. Here are the current prices for Furniture Grade Plywoods at Wall Lumber.

Rob

 

[D ON BOARD]

When ordering for the boat shop i've been through them all. Fuma, chin chin, wood core, 5x5 BB and russian BB but all warped off truck or after first cut. We tried the popular core shop grade faces and birch but soooo heavy. We now have gone over to european lite ply from lite ply corp. i think their called. cost is not bad 58$ a sheet but flat and 1/4 the weight of popular core furniture grade. we have gone over to this completely. I order it from world panel products inc in wilson nc. This is eastern side of state and WPP is based out of Fl. If doing big piece you will not believe the weight savings.

dennis

 

[junquecol]

The local Lowes stores here have all but got rid of American made hardwood plywood.:BangHead: The China stuff is eveywhere, but price is still the same. A couple of years ago, I used some of the Chinese stuff from HD. It was labeled "poplar", but was birch. Quality was good. Horizon Forrest Products had a bad batch of the Chinese stuff last summer. Went in there and there were finished parts laying around that had delaminated. HD over in Cary carries a shop grade of Chinese 3/4 birch for $29. It looks like a stack of "Pringles". The cores in the Chinese stuff are too soft. I can't use it to build cubbies, unless I just need some practice, which I don't.

 

[Douglas Robinson]

I found a use for Sandeply!

I put it on top of my bench as a backer when cutting sheet good with my circular saw!

BTW the sawdust from this stuff is JUST like sand. Probably where it gets its name. The stuff is so dry it floats everywhere! It took an hour to clean the stuff from all over the shop.

I tried to build cabinets with it, but they look awful! The family and I used it in our fire pit. The stuff is sooo dry, that is works as ideal kindling!!!

Doug

 

[lwhughes149]

I am happy to report that I used blondewood plywood for all my kitchen cabinets and am very happy with the results. If there is a negative it is that it does splinter when cut. Lorraine
PS. I would use it again.

 

[jerrye]

I am happy to report that I used blondewood plywood for all my kitchen cabinets and am very happy with the results. If there is a negative it is that it does splinter when cut. Lorraine
PS. I would use it again.

Thanks Lorraine. As I'm still shopless, and still getting my feet wet in this it's good to hear that I can use something like the blondewood material to learn on without having to end up trashing expensive wood because of my mistakes! I have a current project in mind for it, so I'll let you know how it turns out. One question: does it seem pretty stable, ie doesn't warp, have a lot of voids, etc?

 

[DaveO]

I used Lowe's 11 ply "cabinet grade" :roll: blondewood ply for my Kitchen Hutch project as it was going to be painted. There wasn't a non-warped piece in the batch, it is full of voids, many of the plys actually overlap, the face veneer is just slightly thicker than transparent, and it dents very easy. But at $29 a sheet, it kept me in budget and helped me to develop some new cuss words :lol: :lol:

Dave

 

[zapdafish]

when i stopped by wall lumber i also discovered they carry "shop grade" hardwood plys. 3/4 red oak was 39 bucks a sheet if i recall. i forgot the rest. they don't list them on the website tho as they dont always have it on hand, cabinet makers often come in with huge orders for specific species. i recall cherry, mohagony, walnuet, birch, etc. next time i am there, i def will stock up on some, i need alot more shop fixtures to build as soon as I finish the current batch

i picked some up and compared it to the furniture grade and instead of 11 layers, it had i believe 5, and had one good side and a side with blemishes, like knots etc, but it was still smooth and real good stuff to work with. it was still real nice to work with and no warpage at all except for the 1/4 sheets and I think thats just because the sheets are so thin.

 

[DaveO]

An example of some of my off-cuts from the Hutch project. Note the voids, overlapping plys, and the nice curvature to some of the pieces :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead:




Dave

 

[NCPete]

Dave, you are looking at it from the wrong perspective.

just consider it pre-bent wood! Surely among your many projects, you have found that you need something bent.