DANGER! Chinese Plywood

Thanks Tom.

I don’t know that I have ever seen any. How could I recognize it and tell it from standard birch, maple or oak plywood that is available at Lowe’s or Home Depot?

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

The properly layered and glued dry plywood have a flat uniform surface where the Chinese plywoods mostly resemble corn flakes.

Cheers
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Other than it saying “Made in China” on the edge of the plywood, I’m not sure. You have to find a reputable vendor that knows what they are selling.

Tom

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

around here, Colorado, it is stamped on the side, made in china. You find it in Home Depot and Lowes. I have used some. The surface veneers are super thin and there do tend to be voids. Otherwise it is pretty cheap for something hidden. I wouldn’t want to use it for anything that would show.

to be the devils advocate….............it doesnt have to be made in China to find steel buried under the surface that lies in wait for your table saw blade. I have seen it a hundred times, be the ply made in Canada, USA, Russia….....it can be low pressure PB, 80 gram paper up the 120 gram paper. Voids can also be found in just about any plywood, no matter where its made and just for the fun of it….........our own mfgs of pre-veneered plywood are starting to make the thickness of the veneer…....just a shade under “see right through it”..................having said that, perhaps the frequency of this happening tends to be greater on “off shore” plywoods.

The “real” Baltic Birch plywood has always been, still is, inconsistant in its thickness which can cause cursing if expensive hardware needs “consistany in thickness” to work “perfect”.

When I started in this trade/craft I remember local plywood having no more then one layer of veneer per 1/8” thickness of plywood. Sometimes it had 3 layers per 1/4”. The layers have gotten thicker…..sometimes each layer looks more like 1/4” and the specie has changed as well. They used throw Talipi overboard as “waste” on fishing boats but now its in every grocery store.

I am not a fan of “made in China” but not because it’s neccassarily cheap keeping in mind that close to 9 out of every appliance bought is made in China and I dont hear too many complain about their new fridge, but because they dont respect copy right laws, patents, human rights. I think every person should have the opportunity to have the same privilages that we have and sometimes take for granted, be it a car, fresh fruit, etc.,.............but blatant theft, disrespect for humanity….I dont like it.

yet the stores, big box stores, their parking lots are full of cars buying anything and everything and most of it isnt made on this side of the pond.

-- "Good artists borrow, great artists steal”…..Picasso

China is just drowning in bad press these days. I hope the Olympians decide to “brown bag” it.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

You get what you pay for…

Although am I the only who thinks that those posts that are starting to appear regularly here look like a bittersweet combination between the patriotic conspiracy theory, hoaxes and spam?

Don’t get me wrong and no offense here but the picture is a little too much sensationalist for my taste and adds nothing to the information itself.

Are there any reliable documented sources for this “according to somebody-without-a-name…” things? I’m not saying it ain’t true but it has all the elements of the good ole hoaxes like the rat’s nail in the burger and so on…

On the other hand, I privilege quality over price and tend to avoid anything way too cheap, coming it from China or no matter where else.

Roman, that might explain why my new fridge has a ghost in it along with the third fan motor in two years. I should’ve upended that thing and checked for the Made In China, You Foolish Imperialist Dog! label. Next time, I’ll know better and have to drop a couple of grand more for a Made Somewhere Else label. Go figure.

always,
J.C.

P.S. And as for the Maoist plywood, I will never knowingly buy anymore of that crap! It’s just too heartrending to work with.

-- When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. -- John Muir

The last time I used any of the Chinese plywood it was 3/4” birch from HD. I used up a lot of glue (and time) squirting it into the edges and clamping to re-laminate the sheet. Never again.

-- The days are long and the years are short...

I guess the wood guy from China that got on this site last year didn’t take what we told him to heart.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Always good to be aware of potential problems.

-- Bruce from Central New York...now, if you'll pardon me, I have some sawdust to make.

i avoid it like the plague. I prefer domestic, Canadian, and even Brazilian ply. I hear that if you buy a full palle tof the Canadian ply you get a winter hat and an empty Molson’s can with it.

-- making sawdust....

You can vote with your wallet girls.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Jojo,
Out of respect for the Owl Hardwoods employee’s privacy I did not include his name, and I don’t particulary care for the less than honest inference you have made. I would not waste my time posting this if I did not feel my coments were not honest or of value to the LJ community. And yes, so far you are the only one who brought up “patriotic conspiracy theory, hoaxes and spam”.

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

Chinese concerns aside, I’m grateful to hear about this Owl Hardwoods place. I too live in Naperville, and I’ll have to go check them out! Any other Naperville area places worth mentioning?

-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - http://www.willmego.com/