Import Plywood

[Dave Lehnert]

Found this on Shopsmith web site about import plywood. Interesting read.







http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS112/SS112_Clamp_Caddy_files/images/Choosing_Plywood.pdf

[JayStPeter]

I've read something like that before. That, combined with my own experiences with it, is why when I went to build my outfeed table last weekend I refused to buy any of that stuff.

[Rafael Carias]

I have personally witnessed metal object in the chinese ply from the orange borgs and i refuse to spend any of my money on it. You're better off buying some Chilenian araucoply (blue borg has 3/4 and 1/2), you'd be saving a few bucks and araucoply is much more structurally sound the chinese ply.

I was talking to a supplier not to long ago and he told me that it was dificult for them to stock domestic or Canadian shop grade ply for a number of economical factors but he mainly blamed the abundance of cheep chinese ply.

[Brian Gumpper]

I recently got a mailing from my local wholesaler touting the quality of their chinese ply. Interesting fact was that they claim there are 1,300 factories in China making plywood.

[glenn bradley]

Interesting that we continue to have these discussions. Perhaps we need a sticky that reminds all 30,000 of us NOT to give any of our money to the BORGs who carry this inferior garbage.

I no longer even buy MDF at the BORG as my lumber yard stocks a superior product for about the same price. My current real disappointment is BB ply.

Since the price-jacking "drought/shortage/whatever" the cost remains high and I now find overlapping plys, etc. in that product. I have stopped buying it and told my lumber yard why. They do not blame me and say they stock the best product they can currently get 'at any price' but are promised things will get back to normal soon(?) bu their supplier.

[Denny Rice]

I was recently at Menards the other day and they have "upgraded" their stock in furniture grade plywood. They still have the "cheap Chinese stuff" but for about 5.00 a sheet you can buy "Made in USA" furniture grade plywood. They have went to great effort so you can tell what you are buying., all the plywood is stamped and the shelves have large stickers stamped "made in USA". for 5 bucks there is no comparision, the USA stuff is hands down 100% better.

[Steve knight]

yes I dulled one of my cnc router bits on some of that. then I cut the chucks of ply on the bandsaw and found the metal I did not know I found with the router. this ones play someone else bought. but the same fellow got a sheet that was a higher end formaldehyde free sheet from a good supplier and he found metal in it too. it was a far better grade then the lows crap.

[Charlie Barnes]

"People of any nationality will manufacture crap when there's a market for crap."

Amen!

Just like at the polls, we can change this. Don't "vote" for this garbage with your hard earned dollars. Demand better by going to a dedicated supplier. I'm sure there is a market for this low end junk, but as passionate woodworkers who produce some of the most unique and well crafted products on the planet, that's not us.

I started a string on this exact topic a few months back thinking that my experience was unique. I was shocked to find how many others had experienced the same or worse. I mentioned that I had run into a HD field quality guy at the airport who claimed that they were changing suppliers and the better quality stuff should be in the stores about now. Hopefully that is true and it will really be better. We'll see.

But for now, send a message. "Vote" for change.

[Peter Quinn]

Not much you can do to the orange borg...that fish rotted from the head long ago. Too many morons and not enougn craftsmen..Orange borg...blue borg...they are all LCD dumping warehouses (Lowest Common Denominator).
If you buy that junk I sorta hope it takes out your sawblades...serves you right. Been burned by it myself.

There's a long list of things you'ld be better off not buying from them (ie: anything electrical, most plumbing parts, your cabinets, paint of any kind, lumber of any kind...tools!) DIY folks seem hell bent on saving a buck but there's no value in junk. They take advantage of peoples ignorance to foist second rate goods at prices a few pennies below other vendors on DIY hopefuls..its shameful really.

I can tell you my local pro lumber yard doesn't sell that chinese junk, and if they start I'll turn off the lights in my shop and move on. Or stop using plywood anyway...

[Brian Kerley]

I recently got a mailing from my local wholesaler touting the quality of their chinese ply. Interesting fact was that they claim there are 1,300 factories in China making plywood.

My supplier here in AZ said the same thing, and mentioned that only about 5 of those factories make good stuff. They import their plywood, and it looked pretty good. It was 3/4" cherry with about 1/16"-1/8" thick veneer on each side.

[Fred Voorhees]

If you buy that junk I sorta hope it takes out your sawblades...serves you right. Been burned by it myself.

There's a long list of things you'ld be better off not buying from them........ paint of any kind


My experiences with their Behr paints have been nothing but great! And I have to mention that Behr has consistently been top ranked, not among the top, but TOP ranked in Consumer Reports paint tests.

[Dick Strauss]

Our local supplier (Toledo Plywood Co) used to have really good quality plywood at a good price. A few months ago a friend purchased 8 sheets of cherry plywood for a project from them. At close to $80/sheet, you'd think they would sell good stuff. The plywood had "made in china" stamps on it although it didn't seem to have too many voids in it. However, it had a veneer of cherry that was very thin (under 1/32" thick). Most sheets showed bowing as they were stored vertically (in the 4' direction) in the lumber rack after moving them. To top things off, the jigsaw started throwing sparks when we cut a small access hole in one of the pieces of plywood (I never found the metal or sand but I know it is there).

The disappointing thing is Toledo Plywood applies the veneer "in house" so there is no excuse for the thin veneer. To be fair, I think they did offer a USA made cherry plywood that ran $110/sheet. IIRC the USA cherry plywood was $70/sheet a year ago.

My friend is wishing he bought the USA stuff based on the issues with the Chinese stuff. For the number of problems caused by the plywood, my buddy would have gladly spent the $240 extra for the good stuff!

Don't fall for the low cost trap and get stuck with crap!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I've posted this before, but I'm showing it again since the mood is right :). The plywood may or may not be import (no markings), but likely is. It was bought at a hardwood lumber supplier in my area at $110 per sheet.

It's African mahogany. The colored circles denote nails below the veneer surface which I had sanded away (on purpose). Also, the veneer was paper thin and difficult to work with. You almost have to be a machinest now to use this stuff.

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/NailinPlywood.jpg

[glenn bradley]

My experiences with their Behr paints have been nothing but great! And I have to mention that Behr has consistently been top ranked, not among the top, but TOP ranked in Consumer Reports paint tests.

I think Peter may have just gotten on a roll there; I do empathize with his feelings though. Granted a Square-D or a DeWalt tool with a great sale price from Lowe's is as good as if from elsewhere. In general I am very selective about BORG purchases and like Peter have a myriad of items I will never buy there, no matter how desperate ;-)

[Peter Quinn]

I am frustrated by the state of things at the orange borg. They move into a market, price below competitors and cause good local hardware business to struggle and often close. I am watching this happen in my town presently.

I've seen a few contractor friends buy attractively priced tools from there that while similarly featured were in fact not the same as tools those for sale elsewhere but in fact 'licensced versions' with slightly different model numbers whose major drive components had been cheapened from hardned steel to nylon, cast steel or aluminum.

This is typically discovered when the tool after quitting in the middle of a job is taken to the major brands authorized repair center and the owner is told "we don't fix that junk, take it back to the borg and they'll give you another one". Question is now that you've incured lost time and wages do you want another one?

I have regularly found 90 degree 1/2" copper sweat elbows that were not in fact 90 degrees which makes plumbing a sink tricky at best. I have bought boxes of sheetrock screws with so much slag in the heads 25% of a box was unusable. The levitron recepticles on offer a few pennies cheaper than elsewhere don't have the spring loaded wire screws, they just sort of float around making instalation a nightmare. The list is too long for this post and growing....I don't like their paint either. Takes 3 coats minimum to achieve marginal color saturation, and I've seen it peel from well preped surfaces with in months.

Ever look at their hardwood lumber? They sell boards in several major species. Generally a 1X6 is 3/4" X 5 1/2" with at least 1 A face. The stuff at the borg measures between .740-.770, widths between 5 5/16-5 9/16, faces look closer to 7/8" rough hit and miss planed to 3/4". I got a real close look at that junk after being forced to use it to create a custom trim package for a contractor who's client used a borg revolving credit account for his remodel. If I hadn't run a 7 head molder I might not have known better. They are starting with wood at least 1/8" under 4/4 and selling it as s4s! The real salt in the eye is that some moron puts very sticky stickers every 2 feet on what is generally the better looking face!

Every attempt I have made to complain is met with the same answer...we'll replace it for you. How about offering decent products in the first place!

[Rick Fouts]

I've had "issue's" with my local lumber supplier. All of their plywood comes from China. I've complained about it being warped and hard to work with but it hasn't done any good. The warehouse manager told me that they found a whole box cutter imbedded in the back of a sheet of 3/4" ply a few weeks ago. A friend bought from another dealer that deals with contractors and has some de-laminating with the first three plys on some 1/2" this past week. The warehouse manager at the place I trade with says that the "higher up's" won't stand behind their plywood if you have problems, so he told me of another dealer that deals in American made material. I'm tired of the crappy import's, but what do you do?

[Randal Stevenson]

Should we be lumping ALL import plywood together, like the original poster asks?

What about Baltic Birch in the 5x5 sheets? Import?

I thought it was about the stores just trying to get the wood in quantity and for bottom dollar, something (quality less important then quantity) has to give.

Even the cheap stuff has it's uses (boarding up empty houses, etc):rolleyes: