On Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 2:49:55 PM UTC-5, dadiOH wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
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?

Several things, possibly, singly or in combination...

1. better face veneers. A2 vs D4, eg
2. made in US vs elsewhere
3. better interior veneers, fewer voids, etc.

P.S. Would 5/8" be good enough for the carcass with 3/4" for the shelves
and top of base?

Strength wise, yes. But why bother if you are buying 3/4 anyway?
Masochistic?

(This may sound like I'm arguing, but I'm not. I'm just trying to understand your

The concept of using 2 thicknesses of wood was something that crossed my mind, but if the
cut list works out that there is no real overlap between the wood for the carcass and the wood
for the shelves, they why not save weight and money?

When I build a bed, I use different thicknesses for the rails than I do for the head and
foot boards. Why wouldn't that same concept apply to the thickness of the plywood
used for different parts of a book case or hutch?

e.g. 4 sheets of 5/8" for the carcasses, 2 sheets of 3/4" for the shelves, assuming of
course that I'm not going to end up with a lot of waste of either. I don't yet know if that
will be the case, but if it works out, why would that be masochistic?

Heck, I'm going to use 1/4" plywood for the backs, not 3/4€�. Why is that any different than
using 5/8" for the carcass and 3/4€� for shelves?