# Looking fo Quarter sawn white or red oak plywood



## SawdustJunky (Mar 18, 2010)

Anyone have good spot for 3/4 QS white or red oak plywood w\veneer core, no mdf. I have friend with an old (1929) crank phonogragh (console not table top) he wants rebuilt. Problem is there's not much left to work with. The original case was poplar with an oak veneer. I guess I cold go that route if I have to but I don't have much experince with veneer in large sizes. All my work has been match and blend repair. Basicly there are 4 side roughly 16 1/2 by 30, so one sheet would rebuild the whole carcass. I told him it would be cheaper to just buy another old phonograpgh but this one seems to have some sentimental value. I have iit all disassembled and even made a mock-up from some left over maple plywood but the original was quarter sawn oak. I even thought of using a good grade plywood (1/2 inch) and apply 1/4 quater sawn plywood to that. Anyone have a source or better suggestion? 
I've been rebuilding and repairing antique furniture for a number of years so I should be better versed in veneer work but never really had to do more than a patch. So any help you have would be greatly appreciated.

SDJ


----------



## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

I don't know what resources you have near you, but I was at a meeting of the Sonoma County Woodworker's Association, I think late last year, and the guy with the high end cabinet shop said he went to the veneer place over in Oakland, picked out his veneer and his substrate, and they laminated it for him. And he had a press that'd take two sheets of plywood at once himself.

You don't say what your budget is, but if there's a place near you that sells veneer in serious quantities they can almost certainly do, or recommend someone who can do, the laminating to plywood for you.


----------



## SawdustJunky (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks Dan…..It is really starting to look like I should play with some bigger pieces of veneer. No reason I can't just haven't. Old dogs , new tricks senario…....


----------



## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

Yeah, I've had reasonable luck on 2'x3' or so surfaces with the ironed on Titebond II method, but I did have to do a bit of gap filling with cyanoacrylate afterwards because the white oak veneer swelled with the glue and then shrank with the ironing. It never made it into my LumberJocks projects, I should take some better pictures now and put it there, but there's a bad iPhone picture on this entry at one of my other blogs.

But half a year later, the veneer job doesn't make me cringe, and I've been progressing fast enough with my woodworking that that's not always the case.

And even with the bad color from the iPhone's pitiful excuse for a camera that points out that I'm pretty lousy at wood matching, because, in fact, the desk underneath that organizer is red oak.

Sigh.


----------



## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Greetings SDJ,

Have you tried Colco Fine Woods & Tools down on Jackson Ave. there in Memphis?
How about Memphis Plywood off of 240 and Union Ave? I forget the street they are on, but you can look it up in the pbook…. They carried all kinds of ply, and I bought all mine there when I lived in Bartlett..They probably will order some for you, if they don't have it in stock…Just a couple of suggestions near by…...


----------



## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

Any reason not to use solid QS WO? As long as the grain runs around the sides, there should not be an expansion problem. Even less problem if its panel design.

However, if using kiln-dried QS WO, the tools must be sharp and take very light cuts with a planer, etc, as the wood will tear out very easily. (I am currently in the final stages of building a blanket chest out of solid kiln-dried QS WO, so just passing on my observations from working with it).

Go


----------



## SawdustJunky (Mar 18, 2010)

Hey Rick…....Yeah tried Colco, the owner past away about 3 months and they are closing up so they are not restocking. Interstate Plywood does not stock it but their vendor has a minimum order of 5 sheet ($125 each). Can't go that route. Memphis Plywood same deal.

Gofor….........Solid QS OW is even more expnse and more prone to warp over time unless you joint small pieces and alternate the cupping. My logical yet unprofessional brain tells me if the originall had a poplar substrate with veneer apply anf it last nearly 100 years, a like replacement should do as well. I have plenty poplar to work with just need to convince myself applying the veneer is not tricky as I think it is. You know, repairing something for someone as a favorite (no labor charge) you still don't want to waste material. But then, pratice does make prefect.

Thanks for the suggestion guys.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

At Home Depot, I've found awesome QS red oak veneer on plywood with unbelievable rays and figuring. These sheets are sometimes mixed in with the regular rotary-cut sheets. I've found a few in 1/4" thickness and one in 3/4". It might be worth going in with a helper and dig through the sheets, maybe you'll find what you need. If you do, it will be the same price as the regular mill stuff.


----------



## millmgr (Nov 17, 2009)

You can use the sticky back veneer by 3M that is available at many mail order or online tool/wood stores. You can cut it with scissors and just peel off the backing and smooth it on. Can be prefinished if that makes it easier. I think it comes in sheets 2' wide by 3 or 4' long in all popular cabinet woods including the quartersawn and riift sawn. Mostly used by cabinet resurfacing companies where an old set of cabinets can be covered with the prefinished veneer and get new doors for a whole new look.


----------



## SawdustJunky (Mar 18, 2010)

Got it…thanks


----------

