Just starting out with my shop. I am interested in building some cabinets. However i'm having difficulty finding good quality cabinet grade plywood. Stores like home depot and lowes do not carry the good stuff, that all of my woodworking magazines call for. I found one local supplier that requires one to open a business account with a minimum of $5000 dollars to buy from them.
Does anyone in the south jersey area know of a source for a non commercial shop?
The worst place I have encountered is Florida If your not a business. I talked to a supplier and they will not sell me a stick of wood, except if I wanted to buy unfinished maple ply for $145.00 a sheet. I told hot to put it where the sun don't shine!
Three years ago I moved to NC fro NJ, finding wood has become much easier. In NJ, try the two places I've listed below, I used to get my hardwood and plywood from them:
U S Mahogany Corp. ( It's a lumber yard specializing in hardwoods)
746 Lloyd Rd.
Aberdeen, NJ ( right off GSpkwy exit 117a)
Hi Mark, I though that Florida had problems with sourcing cabinet grade wood we use various suppliers I am sure you can find good wood in NJ visit our website and see what we have done www.petradesigninc.com
I'm surprised by this - it's not tough at all to find up here (WI). Menard's has 3/4" baltic birch for around $50/sheet. Heck, even HD sells it, although slightly more expensive.
I would try a cabinet shop - maybe you can pay them to order it for you through their supplier?
Thank you. After this long nasty drawn out drought I needed a reminder of why I like living in Texas… None of that sort of minimums and commercial account bull *#@!...
FWIW, As long as it has had a chance to stabilize to the climate, the Home Depot cabinet grade ply is more than sufficient for shop projects, most of the time… It has bit me in the tail once, but it wasn't something I couldn't easily work around… I will use it again with no complaints…. My budget can't take the $100+ a sheet stuff for shop projects…
I was a little surprised to find that my local hardwood supplier carries, and will special order, any kind of ply I need.
And they will do a cut for me, just like the big box guys. Decent price, much better quality.
Also in my area, there are still a couple of independent lumber yards. They too will special order any kind of ply that their wholesaler carries, which in my area is almost anything you can think of
Are there any "real" lumber yards, or hardwood suppliers in your area? Big box ply can work well for shop cabs, but the quality can be kinda dicey. I've had good luck and bad with Home Depot.
You might also talk with a cabinet shop and see where they get their plywood. You aren't a competitor, so they would probably point you in the right direction.
That $5k requirement sure sounds weird. Around here, the suppliers don't turn business away. - lol
"I'm surprised by this - it's not tough at all to find up here (WI). Menard's has 3/4" baltic birch for around $50/sheet. Heck, even HD sells it, although slightly more expensive."
For what its worth this is not the same baltic birch that you find at woodworking supply. The big box "baltic birch" has fewer plies, 5 from my Home Depot. The stuff you get from the better suppliers has 9. Of course its twice as much.
Menards carries special order A4 grade plywood, its that or a local supplier. Luckily here in Chicagoland we have Owl Hardwood and Menards so no minimums.
Unluckily for the wife my current projects is a walnut/walnut verneer ply TV stand, painful pricing on the sheet I needed (around $134 for A4 thick-verneer)
I wish I could rememeber the name of the ply I tried at HD. I do remember it was a 7 layer and cut like butter. Going down again to see if I can find it. If I do, I'll report it.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could
be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
LumberJocks Woodworking Forum
A forum community dedicated to professional woodworkers and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about shop safety, wood, carpentry, lumber, finishing, tools, machinery, woodworking related topics, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!