Veneer core plywood

[michael metros]

Has anybody used veneer core plywood with A faced plain sliced maple . I am using it for flat panel doors on a cabinet and am having problems
with the small gaps in the joints of the veneer . I am staining a very dark color and spraying lacquer over it. The gaps in the veneer show up as I
am spraying the lacquer . Is there any thing I can fill this with that will not show?

[johnny means]

Nothing you can do about poor materials. What you describe sounds like what we call "shop grade" plywood. I only use it for structural or laminated applications, never when it needs to look nice.

[Ethan Melad]

agreed. if you bought the plywood from a distributor, i'd contact them/your sales rep and let them know about the issue- although since you didn't notice prior to using the plywood it's unlikely they'll do anything for you.

[Jeff Duncan]

If it's a true "A" face then you have a defective piece of plywood and should have it replaced. There should be no gaps in an "A" face, or even a "B" face for that matter. I'm not a fan of using veneer core for flat panel doors either. I generally go with a veneered mdf core which will stay flatter over time than veneer core.

As far as a fix goes that's hard to say without seeing it. My first inclination would be to make new doors. Since you already have them you could try sanding back down, using a stainable filler and trying again. I'd try it with a piece of scrap before spending a lot of time doing the doors though.

good luck,
JeffD

[Peter Quinn]

plywood just keeps getting worse. Is is stuff stamped AA or A-1, or are you just referring to it as the A face. Is it from a commercial supplier or a big box retail? If I bought A-1 plywood from my supplier and voids showed up in the spray booth, I'd bring them a door, show them the problem and expect replacements for the sheet goods at least, and they can pass it back up to their supplier. Ditto what Jeff said, for flat panel doors we use MDF core veneered, they stay flatter, the substrate doesn't tend to telegraph such as you may see on veneer core, and I've never seen splits or voids in the A face.

[michael metros]

plywood just keeps getting worse. Is is stuff stamped AA or A-1, or are you just referring to it as the A face. Is it from a commercial supplier or a big box retail? If I bought A-1 plywood from my supplier and voids showed up in the spray booth, I'd bring them a door, show them the problem and expect replacements for the sheet goods at least, and they can pass it back up to their supplier. Ditto what Jeff said, for flat panel doors we use MDF core veneered, they stay flatter, the substrate doesn't tend to telegraph such as you may see on veneer core, and I've never seen splits or voids in the A face.


The stuff we are using is AA from a commercial supplier, from which we buy alot of plywood , and of course they do not have anyone else who has this problem. Anyway I found yesterday that by spraying
thin coats the joints in the veneer don't show up. So instead of spraying 2 heavy coats I have to spray 4 thin coats to keep the gaps from telegraphing through the finish. Thanks for all the input