birch ply from home depot any good?

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

Went lookin for some box materials today and found some 3/4" birch ply at home depot. I thought 3/4 birch ply was usually 13 ply, but I only counted 11 on the stuff at HD.

Anybody use this stuff for a box. Its 40 bucks a sheet but its nice and light, I'm thinking about trying it for next build.

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[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

why dont u just use MDF? at lowes it was like $14 a sheet of 3/4

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

why dont u just use MDF? at lowes it was like $14 a sheet of 3/4

Because of the weight, I don't mind spending a few extra dollars to lose a few pounds. That birch was way lighter than MDF.

 

[MassOccur 10+ year member]

Agreed. It's a lot lighter, it's stronger than MDF and you can also stain it and it looks great. If you have the money to spend, I'd do the birch.

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

Does anyone have experience of making a "Hybrid"? Ive considered it lately...inside MDF, outside Birch for finishing purposes and to lose some weight...Im making a 6th order soon, it may work out pretty well...

 

[sqhertz 5,000+ posts]

id imagine ply-type wood is more likly to split when drilling...alot stronger though..

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

I guess I'll give it a shot, with more clamping, more predrilling and less screwing I don't see splitting being an issue. Actually been thinking about picking up a joiner and doing biscuit joints...would be so nice for building.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

the birch is gonna vary in quality and price in different areas.

i know the birch home depot and lowes used to get around here was really knotty, but just recently they've been getting some really nice stuff.

i wouldn't suggest a "hybrid" box. you'd have to use some NUTSO contact adhesive to keep the plys from seperating. If you wanted to save some money/work, you could build the box out of MDF and just laminate a wood-grain linoleum over it.

If you know how to do nice finish jointing, a birch box would be sexy.

Go for it.

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

Birch is known to have less sawdust out of it and be more rigid along with being lighter. All in all IMO it's a better material for making boxes, it's just too expensive to be practical.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Ya, gapless is $60+ for a 4x8.

Home depot's is airtight, if not exactly perfect, tho, and it's only 39.

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

Aslong as it seals and doesn't resonate like crazy I could care less if its furniture grade for the finish. I'm not looking to stain it, I'm just looking for it to be light and sound good.

I've never used a joiner before so if I try that route it could be an interesting/expensive first go round.

 

[nbro3232 10+ year member]

The birch plywood from homedepot and lowes is not 100% birch. It has filler plies in the middle which are alot weaker than birch. Real birch ply comes in 5'x5' sheets and can be found at lumber yards or cabinet shops. I don't know if this matters that much since mdf isnt that strong anyway. Baltic birch is whats used to make most longboard skateboards. People who buy the home depot birch end up snapping their boards within the first hour of riding.

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

The birch plywood from homedepot and lowes is not 100% birch. It has filler plies in the middle which are alot weaker than birch. Real birch ply comes in 5'x5' sheets and can be found at lumber yards or cabinet shops. I don't know if this matters that much since mdf isnt that strong anyway. Baltic birch is whats used to make most longboard skateboards. People who buy the home depot birch end up snapping their boards within the first hour of riding.

Yup, I've always seen people refer to "baltic birch" for enclosures instead of just birch, seems to come in the smaller sheets too. Not sure if this HD stuff will work but I will find out in a few days.