Rain, sleet, snow, and even the sun itself can literally destroy plywood in just a few months. Weather is hard on any kind of wood, but it’s especially hard on the delicate wood veneers in a sheet of plywood. Plywood for Outdoor Projects - Pressure Treated Check out the OSB panels at your local home center see what you think. The crude surface might be too rough for building boxes and cabinets, but that’s a judgement call you’ll have to make for yourself. Sometimes called “wafer board,” OSB is made from wood chips glued together in an odd, patchwork design. They’re relatively inexpensive ($20 or less), and have one side that’s sanded smooth for painting or finishing. My favorite type of plywood for building indoor projects is made from pine veneers, and is usually labeled something like “Sanded Pine BC” or “ Sandeply.” These panels work great for simple wood projects. Whether your local home center has all of them in stock is another matter, but most stores should have at least a few of the varieties listed below. Plywood for Indoor Projectsįor projects that never see the light of day (like cabinets and shop furniture) there’s a wide range of plywoods to choose from. Plywood manufacturers are very specific about this difference, and are careful to label their products for indoor or outdoor use. The big question to ask before buying plywood is where you plan to locate the finished project-in the house or in the backyard. No need to hide the edges, they’re clean and attractive. Sanded Pine - With its clean, smooth surface (one or both sides), sanded pine is perfect for building project boxes and cabinets.īaltic Birch - Here’s the ultimate plywood for building nice shop furniture. Best part is the price – which is well below the cost of other types of plywood.ĬDX - Another type of construction sheathing that might work okay for rough shop projects, like work tables and storage. Sheathing might be a little rough to the touch, but it’s still an amazingly strong and durable piece of material. In fact, sheathing might be your best choice for things like shelving in the garage, storage cabinets in the basement-or anything where function is more important than appearance. This doesn’t mean you can’t use plywood sheathing for small projects. You’ll have to look a little deeper in the aisles to find plywood better suited for projects like cabinets. That means most plywood at the “big box” stores is for roofing houses, building garages, and covering bathroom floors (it’s called sheathing). Construction Plywood vs Project Plywoodįirst understand that home improvement centers cater not only to homeowners, but also to general contractors. This type of plywood grade is a good choice for projects where you will ultimately cover the plywood panel with some other type of cover material - like a smoother MDF sheet. You'll see more repaired knots and voids on a sheet, and some defects will be left as is. The more economical types of plywood are the C & D grades. Try contacting your closest lumber distributor of woodworking supply store for more information and availability. Not all home centers carry the higher-quality A & B grades of plywood. With the A & B grades, the number of repaired patches and voids on any given sheet will be low. Also, any gaps or voids along the edges of the panel are usually filled and smoothed off with wood putty. All large knots are replaced with football-shaped patches, which can be sanded and finished with the rest of the panel. The highest quality - and most expensive - types of softwood plywood are the A & B grades - which is perfect for shop projects like workbench plans. The number of defects in a panel - and the amount of work a wood mill has done to repair the defects - will determine the grade and the price of plywood. The primary difference between one grade and another is the number of knot holes and voids you'll find in the layers of veneer - defects which occur naturally in just about all type of softwood plywood. The grading system for softwood plywood is one of the easier puzzles to solve when it comes to buying lumber and wood project materials - thanks to the simple A-D letter system used to indicate the quality of the panel. What Do the Letters Mean? Softwood Plywood Grades
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |