Modern plywood and utility furniture.

[ffiill]

First of all a warning about modern plywood as sold at BandQ and Wickes.
I bought an 8x4 sheet of 9mm exterior hardwood ply cut up as I needed from BandQ because I couldnt be bothered getting my trailer together to carry a full sheet from one of the big timber merchants.
Other than the fact that what appeared to be a mahogany facing veneer was red die the wood seemed alright for the internal house job but having said that the bits left over have sprouted white mold on the cut veneers.This is after about 6 months in my workshop.
Then about two months ago I bought some 9mm non structural hardwood ply from Wickes for a cheap and cheerful throw away job at £20 a sheet.It looked good but as soon as I cut into it voids appeared as well as saw blunting filler.
Again the off cuts I put in my workshop where they have begun to delaminate and which are clearly glued together with fresh air.
Compare this to an exterior grade birch shuttering ply which shows no problem whatever including bits which have been outside for three years.
Be warned.
Which brings me to an old utility wardrobe I took apart.The 8 or so ply I now realise was surplus aircraft/mtb quality probably glue with aerolite. which is why it doesnt delaminate after 10 years inside my boat.!

 

[superchip]

plywood is always made of an odd number of layers so the grain runs the same way both sides of the sheet.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Modern plywood is an enormously variable quantity both in quality and price, in general terms you get what you pay for and B&Q don't stock any wood of any description that is fit for anything but the garden fire.

You have been warned.

 

[oldharry]

Modern plywood is an enormously variable quantity both in quality and price, in general terms you get what you pay for and B&Q don't stock any wood of any description that is fit for anything but the garden fire.

You have been warned.

I think thats why he posted. Hes discovered it the hard way!

 

[Minchsailor]

Yup, I have found Wickes's plywood to be considerably inferior to other suppliers (down here in Sussex Wenban-Smith is not bad).

 

[NormanB]

You need to know the grade of plywood being sold and if that is suitable for your purpose.

As in all things - you get what you pay for.

 

[jwilson]

After carefully choosing a decent-faced small sheet of ply at B&Q I had them cut it to exact size on their big saw (very clean and accurate square cuts). After I made cutouts for radio, plotter, switchpanel etc. and it had about ten coats of varnish ending with rubbed-effect, it replaced the instrument panel at the chart table with a new radio and plotter installed. That was two years ago: it looks very very close in colour and finish to the old factory-installed panel. I wouldn't use the stuff outside though.....

Plywood, even expensive marine quality ply, is I suspect vulnerable to collecting rot spores when stored or in transit. Once saw a varnished bulkhead panel in a yacht that looked immaculate except for a very clearly defined rectangle with dark mildew streaks in the grain under the lacquer finish. The only explanation I could think of was that at the factory someone had laid a bit of old mouldy plywood for a while on top of the sheet that became that bulkhead, and was then lacquered and the boat sold looking perfect.

 

[johnmcc]

When I repaired my semi-derelict Lysander in the 1970s I did so with achingly expensive Bruynzeel marine ply and Aerolite306 glue. No deterioration at all while I owned the boat, and I've never used such good plywood again. And a +1 for Wenban-Smith in Worthing - you don't realise how crap B&Q timber is until you use a good timber merchant.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I bought a sheet from Boys and Boden it was stamped with BS1088-1:2003 and has been ok including a rudder repair.

 

[ffiill]

My annoyance was that the wickes looked very good and was only several pounds cheaper than exterior grade hrdwood 8x4 from one of various timber merchants

 

[Topcat47]

Looking for a 1/4 sheet of exterior ply, I discarded 26 sheets in my local Wickes before finding one without a significant void. It delaminated in under a year. I wouldn't use their timber as shuttering ply. B&Q are not much better, an 8' length of "structural" 100x200mm timber was delivered with a HUGE knot in the centre of the span.

I have sourced "marine" ply from a local timber yard, but even that was not Mahogany. Trimmed with hardwood and glued and pinned using West epoxy, it's lasted well. Bryunzeel is the Rolls-Royce of Marine ply, and priced accordingly, but it has the distinct advantage of quality and appearance. I'd use nothing else for structural work where strength matters (a rudder for instance) or where appearance is crucial.

 

[burgundyben]

B&Q don't stock any wood of any description that is fit for anything but the garden fire.

In our local B&Q, a customer found a straight piece of timber, at the till the staff refused to sell it, apparently they'd never seen such a thing in the store before.

 

[Stemar]

When I was doing a lot of woodwork for a charity many years ago, a timber merchant gave us a load of timber rejects, on the correct basis that we'd get a several feet of decent wood out of a (to them) iffy 8 foot 2x4.

Wandering round B&Q a few weeks later, it was apparent that the average quality of the stuff we'd been given was superior to the stuff in the racks at B&Q. I've come to the conclusion that a DIY shed's definition of "selected timber" is, "Yep, it came from a tree, it's a piece of wood".

 

[vyv_cox]

I have a remarkable collection of fungus growths, sort of brown mushrooms, growing out of my garden gate that is constructed from Wickes 9 mm ply.