What kind of plywood

[Jason Stoller]

I was hoping to get some advice. I want to build some portable carts for my shop (eg for a benchtop planer) made from 3/4" plywood. I don't need it to be amazing looking plywood but I don't want junk either.

What kind of plywood would be decent yet reasonable? VC? LC? Shop-grade?

Thanks for your thoughts

- Jason

[Paul Girouard]

A shop Birch would be a good choice , stay away from the "Borg" S. Birch it tends to be Chinese made , and I've heard it comes apart / has blows.

About $50.00 a sheet (roughly here in the PNW)



Or made Satin ply , or what may be called AC in your area. It would a second choice and it does have some tendency to have "stress" in it , so it can tweak some when cut , it's really made for sub-flooring / shelving , etc where it can be fastens down to stop that tweaking. ($35.00 ish a sheet)

[Frank Drew]

Jason,

I like multi-ply (Baltic Birch or equivalent) for uses like that; I think it stands up better than plain old plywood (fir, pine, birch...). Of course, 1" domestic birch can be a good choice if you're willing to go thicker.

You can't argue with how flat and smooth MDF is, and those are important considerations, but depending on the construction you're using it might not have enough sag resistance since there's no grain strength.

[Paul Girouard]

Jason,



Of course, 1" domestic birch can be a good choice if you're willing to go thicker.



Humm, where would one get 1" thick Birch plywood :confused:, 1 1/8" Fir yes , used for sub-flooring over 4x post and beam deck systems , but full inch thick Birch ply :confused: never seen any :confused:

MDF would be a poor choice for carts that roll about IMO , not a good use of the product. Fastening , stress cracking at same would be a issue.

[Frank Drew]

Paul,

I haven't bought any lately, but my local supplier had it at one time, and I just recently sold my last sheet. It was nice stuff, but heavy, of course. I had to build a paint-grade stand for a 1930s vintage Italian steel sculpture and wanted something robust because I was going to add weight inside the base; IIRC, I mitered the corners and reinforced them with splines -- the 1" thickness gave a nice, wide mitered face.

[Paul Girouard]

Paul,

I haven't bought any lately, but my local supplier had it at one time, and I just recently sold my last sheet. It was nice stuff, but heavy, of course. I had to build a paint-grade stand for a 1930s vintage Italian steel sculpture and wanted something robust because I was going to add weight inside the base; IIRC, I mitered the corners and reinforced them with splines -- the 1" thickness gave a nice, wide mitered face.



Sounds cool , it would be a nice product , limited in usefulness , but for certain things it would be nice.

Lots of things like that , IF I guy could figure out where to source it , and IF it was still available, etc., etc.

Generally you find them the week AFTER that "perfect use" job is eithe started or just finished :o

[Joe Scharle]

Home Depots in the Raleigh are selling Canadian ply. Birck/Oak $39.00

[Jason Stoller]

I have bought the orange Borg 3/4" before and it had a bunch of voids in the middle.

MDF seems quite heavy and doesn't hold normal screws as well, so I am not sure I want that.

When I call around, I guess I will ask for shop grade birch or ask if they carry A-C. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!