Okume Plywood?

[aurelio alarcon]

I recently bought some okume plywood at the local. Has anyone heard of this stuff, and if so, what is the word on it ? While using some for a small cabinet, it left a worn spot on my router bit that looks like a "v" shaped gouge. It wasn't a chip because it happened on another bit identical to the first one. Is it the glue or the hard wood ply on the surface of this ply. The "v" shaped gouge appeared where the bit meets the top layer of the ply on both bits. The bits were grizzley bits that I got on amazon about a week ago. They claimed to be carbide but I didn't see any brazing marks on them. Went back to amazon to re-check the quality of these bits, but , ironically, they are no longer offered. But they are sold as carbide.

[Tim Sproul]

Aurelio,

Are you in the SF bay area?......'tis normal to fill in a bit more info about yourself. I ask because there is a source in Brisbane for this plywood....and I've been meaning to try some out.

anyrate, I'm assuming these are spiral cutters? I don't know of any other cutter that wouldn't be very easy to tell if they are carbide tipped or not....carbide tipped should look like a carbide tipped saw blade....very easy to see the carbide versus steel body transition.

[Dave Richards]

Okume plywood is commonly used in building boats. At least the thinner stuff is. That's also assuming you ended up with marine grade okume. If it is marine grade it is probably stamped BS1088.

As to the chip in the cutters, I would guess it is due to the glue and would probably have occurred no matter what plywood. I wonder what sort of carbide is on those bits. If they were a steal, I'd be a bit suspicious.

[aurelio alarcon]

Aurelio,

Are you in the SF bay area?......'tis normal to fill in a bit more info about yourself. I ask because there is a source in Brisbane for this plywood....and I've been meaning to try some out.

anyrate, I'm assuming these are spiral cutters? I don't know of any other cutter that wouldn't be very easy to tell if they are carbide tipped or not....carbide tipped should look like a carbide tipped saw blade....very easy to see the carbide versus steel body transition.

Well, no I'm not in the bay area. But I would do anything to live there. The plywood was a lot cheaper than the oak and birch, so I thought that I'd give it a try. It has a nice finish to it. But because of the wear on the router bits, I thought maybe the glue used on the okume is more abrasive that the glue used on oak or birch ply.


At any rate these are regular straight router bits. They came in a set of three (3/4, 1/2, and1/4 inch) for use on making plywood dadoes. It says that they are carbide. I guess I expected them to last longer than they did. Can they be sharpened?

[aurelio alarcon]

Okume plywood is commonly used in building boats. At least the thinner stuff is. That's also assuming you ended up with marine grade okume. If it is marine grade it is probably stamped BS1088.

As to the chip in the cutters, I would guess it is due to the glue and would probably have occurred no matter what plywood. I wonder what sort of carbide is on those bits. If they were a steal, I'd be a bit suspicious.

Thanks dave. I did some research on it before asking and found out that it was used for marine applications. Because of this I thought that maybe a different type of glue was used in its formation. So I thought about asking about it here to see if anyone had used it. And to see if maybe they had the same results as I did. Anyway, I guess this would have happened with any plywood. Maybe I should spend a bit more on bits next time. Can the bits be sharpened?

[Michael Ballent]

I would just toss the bit... If it chipped you may not see a crack in the carbide, but it could be there.... Last thing you want is to have that little sucker breaking up on you while spinning it at 20K+ RPM why risk it... you even said that the were inexpensive.

Yes router bits can be resharpened, either professionally or by you.

-Michael

[aurelio alarcon]

I would just toss the bit... If it chipped you may not see a crack in the carbide, but it could be there.... Last thing you want is to have that little sucker breaking up on you while spinning it at 20K+ RPM why risk it... you even said that the were inexpensive.

Yes router bits can be resharpened, either professionally or by you.

-Michael

I will take your advice Michael and toss it. I did pay very little for the set. It was worth the one project that it got me through. Thanks for the advice!

[aurelio alarcon]

Aurelio,

Are you in the SF bay area?......'tis normal to fill in a bit more info about yourself. I ask because there is a source in Brisbane for this plywood....and I've been meaning to try some out.

anyrate, I'm assuming these are spiral cutters? I don't know of any other cutter that wouldn't be very easy to tell if they are carbide tipped or not....carbide tipped should look like a carbide tipped saw blade....very easy to see the carbide versus steel body transition.

Tim, I laid on a Special Walnut stain on this ply, and it came out beautiful! I am going to purchase some more of this ply. I got a sheet of this stuff for about 26 bucks. Compared to the 42 bucks that the oak and birch ply are going for at the local, its a steal.