Plywood

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ffiill

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For anyone looking for a good source of Hardwood ply Wickes is the place to go.
Its a hardwood throughout non structural ply with a decorative fine good quality veneer finish.
The 12 mm which I bought is seven ply plus the veneer and shows no signs of voids where it has been cut.
Waterproof and certainly good enough for internal work and probably epoxy small boat building.
Stocked from 3 mm up to about 18mm in IMPERIAL 8ft x4ft sheets;4x2; and 8x2 as I recall.
Pricing is pretty good and certainly looks better quality than some of the so called marine ply sold by the big timber merchants
 
Years ago, I bought some cheap exterior ply from B'n'Q.
It was great. It was ideal for the project I bought it for, and an offcut did service on my tender as a thwart top.
I had a piece of it I used as a sanding block for W&D finishing of dinghy rudders etc. It was left in a bucket of water for weeks with no ill effect.
So I bought the same product a year later for a little outdoor project and it fell apart within weeks.
If you are going to put in hours of labour, I'd pay the extra for a trusted brand.
Otherwise, yo udon't know if what you get this week is the same as last week.
WTF is non-structural plywood anyway?
 
ffiill said:
For anyone looking for a good source of Hardwood ply Wickes is the place to go.
Its a hardwood throughout non structural ply with a decorative fine good quality veneer finish.
The 12 mm which I bought is seven ply plus the veneer and shows no signs of voids where it has been cut.
Waterproof and certainly good enough for internal work and probably epoxy small boat building.
Stocked from 3 mm up to about 18mm in IMPERIAL 8ft x4ft sheets;4x2; and 8x2 as I recall.
Pricing is pretty good and certainly looks better quality than some of the so called marine ply sold by the big timber merchants
Click to expand...

Good enough for seacock backing plates? I've got a few need doing and it would be handy as Wickes is just down the road!
 
James W said:
Good enough for seacock backing plates? I've got a few need doing and it would be handy as Wickes is just down the road!
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You don't need anything grand for backing plates as they should either be encapsulated in epoxy or if the bilge is dry just bedded down on sealer. However unless you need the plate to create a flat surface for the locking nut, arguably you do not need any backing at all. One of those hangovers from wooden boat building days!
 
ffiill said:
...better quality than some of the so called marine ply sold by the big timber merchants
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Your "so-called" is apt, since in a global sense there is really no such thing as marine plywood. There are few international standards for the stuff, and most of those aren't obligatory. But anything meeting BS1088 should be of suitable quality. Anything else could merely conform to the well-known standard for a pig in a poke.

As far as backing pads are concerned, I'm with Tranona. What could be more appropriate in a GRP boat than GRP, or even nothing? For very high-load through-skins, such as cleats, windlasses etc, add a substantial steel plate.
 
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Needs must at the moment and I need to make some locker hatches so I took advantage of B&Q cutting service and bought some of their 18mm exterior stuff...

A picture says a thousand words..... (they will do for this season but I'll be doing it tight next time)

tmp_29128-20170122_1628581180338713.jpg
 
As Wickes is owned by Travis Perkins it may be worth finding out if they stock the same product as if you buy it from them their delivery is free
 
I too bought the Wickes 12mm hardwood ply to replace a panel in the nav station that had been cut for instruments that I no longer have. It seems very good quality. After staining and varnishing it looks good in place.
I recommend it.

EDIT: Travis Perkins only sell whole sheets, and I am not sure if it is identical. The big advantage of buying from Wickes is that you can sort through the sheets and select one with the grain pattern you want.
 
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Re B&Q, when I needed to make shelves for a new garage I went to B&Q and bought sheerts of 18mm ply cut into three strips lengthwise, but I chose their more expensive ply because I could see that the cheaper WBP stuff was full of voids.
 
I got some marked BS1088 from Boys and Boden in Shrewsbury to replace one of the cheeks on my rudder. It seemed to be compliant but how do you tell. If you can't rely on the authenticity of the marking on products bought from a reputable supplier, what can you do? Apart from buying from specialist supplies for 3x the price.
 
Be warned, exterior grade ply from Wickes / Travis Perkins can be a> very variable quality and b> damaged, not always immediately obviously, by being stored on outdoor racking

If you get a good sheet, happy days, but don't assume it'll be good every time - and I've had apparently good WBP from TP de laminate overnight in nothing more than mildly moist conditions (which led to a hell of a row but eventually I got a full refund)

I'm afraid the story is the same at all DIY stores, never mind "BS1088" marine ply, even the WBP is often sub-standard. And I'm afraid it doesn't get much better, in my experience, with local timber merchants either. I've bought sheets of so called Marine Ply, clearly marked BS1088, which on cutting have been full of voids (a no-no) and which have de-laminated merrily in no time at all when a test piece has been soaked

So I've come to the conclusion that if I want marine ply that is actually marine ply and which will stand up to the rigours of life on a boat the only reliable answer is to pay the premium and buy the real stuff from Robbins Timber (or one of the other handful of specialist suppliers - I use Robbins because they'll happily deliver, for a price, anything from a half sheet upwards). Put their plywood next to a sheet of so called marine ply from local sources and the difference in quality is all too obvious
 
Have encountered a similar prob. Used to buy WBP from large Diy stores and found OK but recent purchases are not so. Suspect it is Chinese, interior use only and when wet stinks like the old school glue pot so assume animal glue ! Would under no circumstances put on water even if encapsulated !
Also the Mahogany substitute, which I think is Meranti, is brittle and a thin surface veneer and breaks in sheer very easily ! Dreadfull stuff ! Buy WBP fom a reputable timber merchant. Previous photo with variable grain looks like shuttering ply ? Glue prob. exterior but wood ain't !
 
jimthesail said:
Buy WBP fom a reputable timber merchant. Previous photo with variable grain looks like shuttering ply ? Glue prob. exterior but wood ain't !
Click to expand...

Problem is that most merchants stock for the building trade who are mostly happy with inferior grades, because they don't need expensive cabinet or marine grade. It can be cheaper to use hardwood than have good ply delivered from Robbins or Howells.
 
I wouldnt use this for exterior structural work.However it appears to be void free and has a good number of veneers.
Some of the so called marine ply sold by the big timber merchants is total rubbish.
For the good stuff there is Robbins and a similar specialist timber merchants in the Glasgow area.The problem with Robbins as has already been noticed by other Scottish users is the cost of delivery which can double the price of a sheet
 
ffiill said:
I wouldnt use this for exterior structural work.However it appears to be void free and has a good number of veneers.
Some of the so called marine ply sold by the big timber merchants is total rubbish.
For the good stuff there is Robbins and a similar specialist timber merchants in the Glasgow area.The problem with Robbins as has already been noticed by other Scottish users is the cost of delivery which can double the price of a sheet
Click to expand...

Yes exactly. So what's the answer?
 
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