# Is This Mineral Streaking Acceptable for A1 Maple Plywood?



## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

Hi,

I just purchased the wood for my first big woodworking project, a large computer desk. For the base material of the cabinets and table top I am using A1 Grade Maple Plywood which I purchased at my local lumber yard. One of the two sheets is free from any defects in the face veneer. Unfortunately the piece which they cut for my table top seems to have a fair amount of what I think is mineral streaking, which I didn't notice until I brought it home. Based on the grading system it says that "slight mineral streaking" is permissible for grade A1 plywood. I have no expertise here so any qualitative measurement is difficult for me to interpret. Does the provided pictures look like "slight mineral streaking" or more excessive. This stuff cost $99 per 4'x8' sheet, so I want to make sure I'm not getting hosed.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Photo #4 & 6 look more like a boot prints to me. You might try a light sanding with some 220 to see if it's just dirt.


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

I was able to remove the dirt with light sanding. I was referring to the dark brown/black thin streaks that run parallel with the grain. It's possible I'm not using the right term.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

If you don't want that streaking take it back and exchange it. Personally it adds a little to the plywood. Maple can be awfully bland. It doesn't look like very much streaking to me.
I see you had it precut no exchange. The lumberyard does not grade the plywood it comes to them in a bunl pregraded.


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## ScottM (Jul 10, 2012)

> ...Personally it adds a little to the plywood. Maple can be awfully bland. It doesn t look like very much streaking to me….
> 
> - johnstoneb


^^ I agree, I like it. Wood is not perfect. Enjoy what it gives to the project.

BTW, Bruce I lived in Mountain Home for about 5 years. Miss that place every now and then…


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

I would consider it being slight.
Not to be rude but, did you pick it out, and if not you should have. That way you have control of what you get, especially for 99.00 a sheet. 
Is this project going to be natural or is it getting a stain color?


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

> I would consider it being slight.
> Not to be rude but, did you pick it out, and if not you should have. That way you have control of what you get, especially for 99.00 a sheet.
> Is this project going to be natural or is it getting a stain color?
> 
> - jbay


I'll take it as a lesson learned for the future. This place isn't like home depot where everything is on the shelves, and I wasn't even aware that was an option. I told them I was planning on using the 2'x8' for a table top and I assumed they would pick something accordingly. Bad assumption apparently.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

It's all in the eyes of the beholder (or something like that). I would use the part you see as "mineral streaking" prominently in the desk; I find it quite appealing.


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## skatefriday (May 5, 2014)

I'd be disappointed if my lumberyard pulled out an A1 sheet and it had that much streaking. However A1 is only graded A on one side. What's the other side look like?


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

> I d be disappointed if my lumberyard pulled out an A1 sheet and it had that much streaking. However A1 is only graded A on one side. What s the other side look like?
> 
> - skatefriday


That is the A face side. The back side has worse streaking and variation in color. It's in line with the 1 side of the grading, but defiantly worse than the pictures I posted.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

Looks excessive for an A face to me. I buy the stuff by the lift (A4 typically) Both 1/4" and 1/2". If better than say 5% of the lift looked like that, I'd be on the phone.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

It looks like the rotary cut side, the other side is the good side.


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

> It looks like the rotary cut side, the other side is the good side.
> 
> - bondogaposis


This is what I assumed is the front side:



























This is what I assumed is the rear side:



























Is that correct? From everything I read it said knots were not permitted on A side plywood, so I would assume the small knot would rule out the one side. Also looking at the second sheet, is it normal for the grain to not parallel to the 8' length of the board? This is a 48" by 36" cut where the grain appears to run parallel to the 48"/4' side. It also appears that both front and back are continuous rotary cuts. Murphy is the manufacturer. Do they just have lower standards?
Front:









Back:









Marking:


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## skatefriday (May 5, 2014)

I wouldn't like that, but then again the typical lumber yard caters to the trade and wants you to buy the entire pallet. If I got a sheet like that I'd try to make the best of it, but wouldn't return it as I've spent the better part of two years developing a relationship with the guys behind the desk so that they know if I'm picking through their 4/4 maple I'll leave it as I found it, not making a mess. A single sheet of 3/4" A1 combi-core/classic-core maple would have to be pretty bad for me to say anything about it. And if you develop that relationship you can ask them to pull from 4 or 5 sheets down as the top sheet is often a return.

And as an aside remember that you didn't buy that at Home Despot. And it's not entirely your lumberyard's fault and they make very little money on a single sheet after having to pay a forklift guy to go pull the material, drive it out to your truck, and help you load it.


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

> I wouldn t like that, but then again the typical lumber yard caters to the trade and wants you to buy the entire pallet. If I got a sheet like that I d try to make the best of it, but wouldn t return it as I ve spent the better part of two years developing a relationship with the guys behind the desk so that they know if I m picking through their 4/4 maple I ll leave it as I found it, not making a mess. A single sheet of 3/4" A1 combi-core/classic-core maple would have to be pretty bad for me to say anything about it. And if you develop that relationship you can ask them to pull from 4 or 5 sheets down as the top sheet is often a return.
> 
> And as an aside remember that you didn t buy that at Home Despot. And it s not entirely your lumberyard s fault and they make very little money on a single sheet after having to pay a forklift guy to go pull the material, drive it out to your truck, and help you load it.
> 
> - skatefriday


That is fair, and I will hold onto this sheet. I just discovered though that my "second sheet" is actually wood from three different sheets of plywood. I asked for the second sheet to be cut into two 48"x30" sheets and one 48"x36" sheets. Had they cut it from a single sheet, the grain would run perpendicular to the 48" edge and would end up vertical on my cabinets. What they gave me were cuts from 3 different sheets of plywood where the grain runs parallel to the 48" edge. This will my the grain on all my cabinets run horizontal.


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

Referring to post #12
Photo #1,2,3.
That would be the A face. It's a rotary cut veneer. Most wholesalers refer to it as 'whole piece face'. It may be stamped on the edge WPF.
With maple, it's one of the most common veneer cuts for an A face. It eliminates the 'barber pole' effect you get with maple veneer when it's book matched.

Photo's #4,5,6.
This is the Back face. You can see a joint in the veneer in all three photo's, and mismatched veneer's, called a 'random match'. 
A random match is allowed on the 1(back) face as long as the individual veneer's fall within grade 1 specs.

With all this chat about grading….realize, that to a certain degree, it's all a bunch of arbitrary bull********************. There are no veneer cops. Typically any respectable plywood mill is a member of 'HPVA '(hardwood plywood and veneer association). And they all agree on set grading(and other) standards, but even the best mills will SOMETIMES push the grading limits. Some mills constantly push them. The best mills will (most) often set there standards slightly higher than HPVA standards. You pay for it though.
Simply put…if your looking for near perfection, simply ordering an A face is no guarantee.
If your fussy…ask to see the product first.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

<
That is fair, and I will hold onto this sheet. I just discovered though that my "second sheet" is actually wood from three different sheets of plywood. I asked for the second sheet to be cut into two 48"x30" sheets and one 48"x36" sheets. Had they cut it from a single sheet, the grain would run perpendicular to the 48" edge and would end up vertical on my cabinets. What they gave me were cuts from 3 different sheets of plywood where the grain runs parallel to the 48" edge. This will my the grain on all my cabinets run horizontal.

- lilmanmgf
[/QUOTE]

They probably cut this out of 2 sheets as it is impossible to get 2×30" and 1×36" piece out of 96" due to saw kerfs. The waste from the 2×30" cuts could have come out of the middle of the sheet, therefore no match in grain. If you are going to have somebody else cut your goods, you really need to be present to get it cut the way you want.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Not acceptable to me.

Neither is 4 or 5 strips of obviously different veneer in one sheet, which is what I got for maple ply this last time.

Must be acceptable to whoever grades the plywood, though.

Curious as to country of origin.


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## lilmanmgf (Aug 5, 2016)

> Not acceptable to me.
> 
> Neither is 4 or 5 strips of obviously different veneer in one sheet, which is what I got for maple ply this last time.
> 
> ...


It's domestic US A1 Maple plywood made by Murphy.


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