HD Oak Plywood Update and Hope for the Future

[Charlie Barnes]

Happy Thanksgiving All. Just taking a break down in NC with the family and thought I'd update my post from a couple of weeks ago regarding the poor quality of HD oak plywood which included finding metal. I'll be taking the advice provided and purchasing my next oak plywood from a local, non-borg lumber dealer.

My job in the automotive industry takes me to Detroit frequently. I was waiting for my flight in the Detroit airport about a week ago and saw a guy that had a HD shirt on. I started a conversation with him and as luck would have it, he is involved in product quality. I related my sad story to him. He said that he was aware of the embedded metal issue, but wasn't aware of the twisting/warping issue. Right or wrong, he blamed the sourcing decision to use the current supplier/mill on their former CEO, Nardelli (who is now with Chrysler - good luck to them). He indicated that they were resourcing several commodities back to higher quality sources now that he is gone.

To my key point, he told me that HD would be changing oak plywood suppliers this coming February. I didn't think until later to clarify if this meant that the new product would be in the stores in February, or just on the boats from China. In any case, I'm happy to see HD acknowledging the need to carry higher quality product.

So all of this is potentially good news if HD really comes through. Too bad it's too late for me. HD has lost my business for oak plywood and probably more. I'll be buying my plywood from local yards as mentioned above. But, I hope for their sake they really do improve the quality of their products. I hope they have learned that cheap is not inexpensive and that there will always be a market for quality.

[Mike Marcade]

The last time I bought and used birch ply from Home Depot it had huge voids and overlapping plys in it. It was pretty bad. Lately I have been using the plywood from Lowes with much better results.

[Ed Peters]

looking for some caps to cover some counterbores for screws. As I was walking down the sheet goods aisle I glanced at the ¼" oak veneer ply and was overcome with lust. It was head and shoulders better looking than any other veneer ply I have bought including the high dollar stuff I get at the hard wood retailer I use. It was rigid, it was flat and there were no voids or overlaps visible. As soon as I regained my senses, I loaded 12 sheets on a cart and get the hell out of there before somebody realized what a bargain I made off with. No joking now, this stuff is a dead ringer for the solid wood I work with and will really improve the look of the case work I do. So I guess it pays from time to time to keep your eyes open, even at HD/L.

Ed

[Dave Falkenstein]

I just finished cutting up a sheet of HD 3/4" oak ply. I was too lazy to drive over to the hardwood supplier, so I took a chance on the HD sheet. I made several cuts in both directions and did not hit one single foreign object. Must be my lucky day!

[Al Willits]

Be nice if they started selling reasonable quaility plywood, I wouldn't expect furniture grade, but it'd be nice to find something to use for shop cabinets, backing or or just plywood that doesn't need to be furniture grade for them assorted projects that you'd rather not use $100+ a sheet stuff on.

HD has always beed pretty decent to me, but thei plywwod does leave a bit to be desired, I'm now buying shop grade at they lumber yard for $60+ a pop, more than I'd like to spend, but it satys straight and the outer plys are more than .000002" thick..:)

Al

[Chuck Burns]

I think we have to be caredul not to assume HD and Lowes have the best price. I've found that a local small chain lumber yard (Harbert Lumber) has consistently lower prices than the Big Box stores. I recently put some shelving in the garage and needed so 2x10x20ft boards. Harberts was 3.00 cheaper per board.

On the other hand the HD has some 3/4 ply that they are calling "cabinet grade" for 26.00. They don't identify the veneer but it is great looking stuff, as flat as can be and only a few dollars above the cost of CDX. Lowes has nothing like it.

[John Shuk]

I think we have to be caredul not to assume HD and Lowes have the best price. I've found that a local small chain lumber yard (Harbert Lumber) has consistently lower prices than the Big Box stores. I recently put some shelving in the garage and needed so 2x10x20ft boards. Harberts was 3.00 cheaper per board.

On the other hand the HD has some 3/4 ply that they are calling "cabinet grade" for 26.00. They don't identify the veneer but it is great looking stuff, as flat as can be and only a few dollars above the cost of CDX. Lowes has nothing like it.

When HD opened in one of the local towns around here about 8 years ago the local paper did some price comparisons.
HD was a little cheaper on some stuff and local hardware store were a little cheaper on some other stuff with most prices being very similar.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Is there such a thing as quality plywood any more? The last plywood I purchased from Frank Miller was not very good. Several sheets had voids right directly under the veneer faces. The plywood was Columbian brand & made in Canada.

[Jeff Clow]

As Chuck said, HD has "cabinet grade hardwood plywood" for 26.00 a sheet. I first saw it a a store a ways from home, then went to my local store. I didn't look over the far away stuff (tops of 2 sheets) but bought 2 sheets from the nearby store. The veneer had different colors through it, like heartwood/sapwood. The back side looked like about half of it was spalted. The veneer was not pretty, but was smooth & well sanded. There were many thin plys, kinda like Baltic Birch. The receipt listed it as birch plywood & thats what it looked like. You could see overlaps in the plys.
This is not the best plywood available, but it was cheaper than pne BC grade plywood. Overall it was a great deal, but I wouldn't make cabinets out of it.