On Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 5:45:16 PM UTC-6, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I'm planning on building a pair of bookcase/hutches like these:
https://imgur.com/a/eCVZT
They will be painted, so I'm considering 3/4 birch plywood, something I've
never used before. A local lumber yard quoted me ~$75 per 4 x 8 sheet. Home
Depot has (what they call) Birch Plywood for ~$50.
I know that HD lumber typically sucks but I'm curious: What does the extra
$25 get me at the lumber yard?
P.S. Would 5/8" be good enough for the carcass with 3/4" for the shelves
and top of base?
Thanks!
I don't know how familiar you are with your Home Depot's product lines, but I can tell you from experience that it can vary wildly. If I am looking for a certain plywood, I drive to the nearest store and look at their stock.
A couple of days ago I was ready to build a "one off" carcass to replace the large sink cabinet damaged by a bad leak at a client's house. I went to the closest HD looking for A/B, B/C, economy "cab ply", or even this unidentified paint grade stuff from Chile they have once in a while. I found something called "pine ply" or similar. It was A/B in appearance, but all hard pine. No footballs, good veneer thickness, 8 layers of material (!!!), and really clean. Never seen it before. It was about $30 a sheet.
Got it back to operating table, and laid out my cut patterns and wound up using almost all of it, the point being lots of cuts, probably 30 lineal feet or so. ONE void, just one about the size of a pencil eraser in one of the layers. That's it. Held screws, brads, etc., with no problems and when using my countersink, it didn't splinter.
If I had a place to put this stuff I would go buy about 5 sheets and put it back for my own use. I know that next time I need it they may (probably not) have it. We primed it with a roller on one side (interior of the cabinet painted per client) and put on a coat of paint before cutting. Assembled, we put on one more coat on the floor of the cab after the plumbing was reinstalled and I have to say it looks great. It sanded great, no splintering, and holds paint just fine.
Don't fall into the hole of thinking you will get a better quality of plywood from a distributor. Around here, the local wholesaler (DixiePly)sells a great deal of the same stuff in the big boxes. The stuff in limited supply like the cab ply from Chile (affectionately called "Chiliply" by me) is an HD exclusive so directly to them in lots. Most quality plywoods come from the local guys where available.
Not too sure what to make of all the nonsense posted by the guy that hasn't seen the end results of his work years later. The carcass should be 3/4". Thickness of your shelves should be predicated on their load. When building for all books, I use 3/4" plyood with a fascia (usually around 1x2) to compliment the style of the cabinet, and put a piece on the back of the shelf to keep the overall dimensions. I have seen my work with that detail hold a library of law books, and a specialty open back cabinet to display large porcelain objects go for years without sag.
That being said, I also have used a 5/8" plywood on shelves. I put a fluted edge band on the show side and it looks and works great. The shelves hold kitchen towels, tablecloths, cloth napkins in a utility hutch that look a bit more finished in that small, skinny cabinet.
I would find out what was going to be in the cabinet, decide if the shelves are to be adjustable, and take a look from there.
As always, just my 0.02. But I would take a look and see if I could find that plywood at HD...
Robert