Man oh man, have I had it.

That would t me off too. I’ve used oak door skins to fix a problem like that by laminating it over the top.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

I got some at Lowes about six months ago. Got it home to build a production line workstation/desk/podium for the paper mill I work at. Cut it up into the required parts to join the next day. Went out the next morning and the thin veneer de-lammed on me. I guess from the AC showroom to my humid Florida shop was just too much for it. I loaded all the parts back into my truck and went back and raised hell till I got a refund. NO OTHER material to choose from BUT Chinese. I ended up using American BC fir from 84 Lumber. They also had “cabinet grade” plywood, but it was from China. No more!

Are there ANY cabinet grade plywood manufacturers in the US anymore? If so where can I locally buy it? Not in Central Florida.

What have we come to?

-- Please visit me at http://dustynewt.com

ahhhhhh soooooo cheap …you no likeyee rice paper birch…..me either…..i buy from the smaller guy….better stuff for sure…sorry you got jipped…..

-- The Grizzone

Many of us have had bad experiences buying lumber at either Lowes or Home Despot. I now only buy lumber from a real lumber yard. It is worth the extra drive and extra money to buy quality and not waste my time and money at Lowlys or Homeys.

-- Each and Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. Greg Little

There are no “smaller guys” any more, grizzman. Not around here.

-- Please visit me at http://dustynewt.com

There is a place down by 8 mile rd in Detroit that I can get real nice American and Canadian plywood. It’s a very long drive that I make once a year to get a load. Locally the same stuff is $75 a sheet special order. Down there it’s $56 and it’s a full 3/4…full 1/2. I ran out and had just one more little job to do before I snow bird down to Florida. I can’t say I didn’t know any better. What I don’t get is what the heck can you use the box store plywood for. No matter what you build with it you have to be able to sand. It can’t be moving. There can’t be many that want it. Why are they sticking it to us. We have to get together and show some power. There are a lot of products this is happening with.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

Sam has got to get on the ball. There should be certain standards before you even can call it oak plywood. It’s not free trade if you have almost slaves making a half azz product. When the heck are we going to demand that the HD-Lowes stand up for the all American woodpecker. The yanks think they are saving. I gotta feeling when all is said and done the price we will end up paying is going to be more than anyone can bare.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

Is the problem the cheap ply or the fact that 100 grit shouldn’t find it’s way to veneered sheet goods? LOL.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

Has not been a problem for 30 years. Hardly hit it, pencil marks didn’t even start to fade on the style. Just a clean up before the fine. Very thin veneer. Trust me kolw, I have the feel.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

Ok kolw, I thought maybe your right and I’m a lug. So I went out and hit it with 150… same thing. By hand … same thing. You can still see the pencil marks and the were struck light.
The wife is going ” What the hezz are you doing? It’s after 2 am”. But kolw said…

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

I put some oil on the cheap and put it next to the good… night and day. No richness in the grain.You can’t even feel the grain. A faded yucky look. I can’t think of anything I would use this for.

Jim, I’m going to 1/8” book match it and trim.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

This topic comes up many times.
Here’s just one. http://lumberjocks.com/topics/3910#reply-99674
When will we ever learn… The more you buy – the more they supply
You think it’s the manufacturer…. What about the bulk buyers. Why not give them the flak?
You likyee cheap cheap…You buy..
You no likeyee. .. you buy… you moan.. you still buy… You sukker.

-- "Even small steps makes a distance." (Shawn Phillips, musician)

The problems of which all speak, can be set aside by check the association stamp on the back side of the ply. That is what the ‘Association’ does. Certify minimum quality compliance. I believe many ‘low-priced’ plys from the ‘Big-Box’ stores are ungraded and have no certification stamp.

It appears others are now finding the value of quality vs price. John Ruskin(sp) once said something to the effect “The bitterness of [poor] quality is rembered long after the sweeness of [low] price”

-- Rustfever, Central California

Menard’s Big Box store still has pretty good plywood and several other small lumber suppliers in the area also handle it. I won’t buy any Chinese lumber or plywood from the other big box stores.

-- "A goal without a plan is a wish."

I will second what Ampeater says, Menard’s carry’s tons of “Made in the USA” plywood and alot of other things

-- If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!

I’m with kolwdwrkr – why would you need to use 100grit on sheet goods?

just curious…

edit: my comment is not in regard to the thickness (or lack of) the material you got – I believe you the veneers are too thin. just curious why you normally use 100grit on the veneer side of sheet goods… :)

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I was wondering the same thing. Why are you using 100 grit on oak ply? I would have used 220 just to knock the fuzz off.

-- I don't make mistakes, only design changes....www.dgmwoodworks.com

It’s funny how you do things for years and never stop to think others will find it odd. I do this kind of work day in and day out so I have gravitated to the fastest ways.
OK box is built styles and rails and done now it’s time to sand. Where the box meets the style I have pencil marks (for the biscuits) and razed grain from washing the glue off. When I clamped the style down I made sure it was flush or a hare over the box so as not to cut to deep into the veneer when sanding. Now the cab is on it’s back and I do a clean up sand on the styles and rails 100-150 whatever is close by. When I hit the side of the style I clean up the immediate veneer(1/2-3/4) to get the raze and pencil marks. That’s the only place I hit the veneer. Then I grain brush to whole cab on the finish sand.
I have a good feel for it, NEVER dig in, and it’s fast.
I could cover the dig in with an inlaid 1/2” strip except I don’t rig and most importantly When the finish is applied the cheep Chinese plywood has no richness and looks cheap. Years ago I built the rest of the kitchen with some real nice stuff.
It’s just a simple cab to go in an average kitchen that’s why I grab a piece of local ply. I have no one else to blame, I am a lame.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

maybe we need all LJ’s to picket outside of their stores nationwide…pick a saturday…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Jack, I hope you weren’t offended in any way by what I said. I assure you it wasn’t my intent. I truly believe that veneers are getting thinner on every product, foreign and domestic. I was purchasing domestic material for a while and was sanding through. I started noticing that I could actually see through in some areas on a new sheet that wasn’t even touched. I stopped using that distributor. In the years I have been a cabinet maker/furniture maker I’ve never used anything under 150, and usually I start with 180 on veneer. The reason being that if you want a good stain and finishing job you cant skip grits. So say you start at 100. You have to get the 100 scratches out with 120. Then get the 120 scratches out with 150, and so on. The panel should be sanded to 220. If you start with 180 you don’t have long to go, especially since it’s normally fairly smooth from yard, with the exception of some grain raise. Depending on how hard you pressed your pencil you may have dented the veneer, which would have been a pain to get out regardless. Maybe a solvent like mineral spirits or naptha could have gotten the pencil marks off, then it could be lightly sanded.
The days of good veneered ply are over in my opinion. We just have to change our ways to accomodate, or spend more money for the best product available. I hope your project turns out the way you hope.

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

Offended? Nah, no way, unless you farted. I didn’t explain myself very well.

The veneer on the stuff I normally get is as good as it always was. The sad thing is now I have to go down and get another load for something that has just come up. None of this would of happened if I blew it off for just one week. Go figure.

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.

You know napaman that ain’t a half bad Idea. If the media picked it up we could change them box stores around. Why put up with this stuff. Man, at one time they even sold wood grain cabinet liner.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
Get some decent hinges too.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
Yeah, and maybe something besides oak and pop. (In the beginning they also sold maple.)
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
Put the sub floor adhesive in the plywood isle instead of way down with the paint.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
Yeah, and get some decent adhesive roller covers.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
Yeah, yeah, and don’t ask me what project I’m doing just get me out of there fast.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
How about some replacement blades for that rigid jointer.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….
And, and, and how about some helix blades for those plainers.
Rock the box, rock the box, rock the box….

-- Ain't better or worse than any other woodpecker in the woods.