Face plys are soooo thin

[Shovel Man]

How can I get thicker face plys? Not looking for high value wood, just nice quality Oak.

[John Mihich]

I know what you mean. You just show sandpaper to that stuff and it sands through.

My guess is that most oak plywood will be that way. I know appleply and sandyply have thicker skins but those are paint grade.

About the only thing I can say is try a real lumberyard.

[arw01]

Locally we have a massive manufacturer of cabinets with a bargain shop, if you come by often enough you get the full sheets for $40 or so, sometimes still in the individually cardboarded shipments.

I've not sanded through those, done some router bit damage yep, so maybe look for some off the beaten path sources.

Another of our suppliers has a ding and dent section for plywood, I've picked up decent sheets of walnut ply and cherry ply with a 1/32" surface for $20. They are in ding and dent for a reason, but often that can be a bottom.

[jteneyck]

Columbia makes several grades of higher end plywood, but it'll cost ya. I've used MPX core and you can actually sand the veneer (lightly) w/o going through it. I paid over $150/sheet for 3/4" through my local full service lumber supplier. Columbia used to make two even higher end products, Jay Core and Kay Core, but I don't see them any longer on their website so perhaps they dropped them. Another option is to use veneered MDF. The stuff that I've used from Atlantic Plywood (IIRC) was very nice, with a very robust veneer layer. It also was much flatter than even MPX plywood.

Of course, your other option is to make your own from shop sawn veneer, and that is the route I seem to be taking more and more these days for anything smaller than about 6 x 3'. It's more work, but I know the 1/16" veneer won't disappear if I need to sand it a little.

John

[Steve N]

Go to Menards and look at the Timber Products Pro Core II It was rated as the thickest outer ply sold in America a few years ago. Looks the same to me now, as it did then. So if it still isn't rated thickest outer ply, someone else must have fatted their product. My store stocks 3/4" Maple, Cherry, and Oak, but you can order any they offer, and different sizes too. I've special ordered from Menards several times, and there is no cost for it, usually takes 3 to 7 days. Others they sell where I have been happier with the outer plies than HD, or Lowes's crap is the Baltic Birch, sold in 4x8 sheets. Here They also offer a Radiata pine seen here in 1/2" They keep changing the name, so maybe the supply too. For anything I'll paint, this is my go to ply. Very consistent, low cost, and both surfaces are usually 100% void free, pretty thick outer veneers too. It's boring for stain, but if you were so inclined, meh......


I will throw this in. Buying ply at ANY borg is a bring along a strong Buddy thing. NEVER take the top 3 to 5 sheets, instead stack them off, then start looking. Both faces, and all edges should be viewed. I hear on here all the time about voids in plywood. I can say I have never had a void in plywood, where the edges didn't also have voids. At 30 to 90 bux a sheet, look closely, cause once you walk out, all those errors belong to you.

[Richard D.]

Buy cabinet grade ply.

[bhh]

Steve N:

Which Menards are you going to and finding this in stock? Evendale store (nearest to me) only has ship-to-store.

Also lists it as A1 with face veneer @ 1/42" plainsawn, back veneer 1/36" rotary cut, and MDF crossbands. TDS

Steve N said:

---

Go to Menards and look at the Timber Products Pro Core II It was rated as the thickest outer ply sold in America a few years ago.

---

[Steve N]

Miamisburg, Tipp, Sidney. Cinci is a barren wasteland

[Curlycherry]

Plywood mills went to 1/50th inch veneers about 15+ years ago and now they are trying to go to a 1/60th inch standard. Unfortunately for us as woodworkers companies like Timesavers keep making surface sanders that can handle the thinner plies without sand throughs, and the core making machines are getting better at making dead flat cores that the veneers can go onto.

Looking into it the Timber Core does seem to be about the best I've seen at 1/36".

From their web site:
Sometimes, thicker is better. Like when your customer needs a panel with a veneer that can
go 10 rounds with a power sander without losing face. Look no farther than Thickface veneer.
A 1/36" rotary cut panel, Thickface veneer is preferred by professional cabinetmakers and
woodworkers, and is available in a variety of veneer species, including maple, oak, birch and
most other domestic rotary veneers.

[Phil Thien]

I've previously seen the stuff at Menards but my local stores don't stock it any more. The face veneers didn't really look appreciably thicker than stuff I've purchased from real cabinet shops here in Milwaukee. Although at a .008" difference my eyes probably couldn't have noticed without a piece to compare it with side by side.

And then the problem with the stuff is the rotary cut veneer. Not a big fan of rotary cut veneers.

The thing I've learned about cabinet grade plywood is that you can't plan on flushing surfaces or "fixing that later." Pieces really need to come together perfectly before glue is applied, and don't use so much glue that it will make it to the show-face because getting it off is a problem.