Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Red Oak Plywood
Curtis Gray
>I am gathering materials to build a small oak table. I have some air dried red oak, and am in need of 1 sheet of 3/4 inch red oak plywood. Home Depot has 3/4 inch oak plywood, but I don't know if it's red oak or white oak. I specifically want to purchase a sheet of red oak so that my edge trim will match. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Re: Red Oak Plywood
Snyder3179
>I personally DO NOT like the stuff from Home Depot. Never been to happy with their sheet goods. Always chewed up on the corners and damaged on one side or the other. Your best bet would be to find a cabinet shop. We have one here locally, and they sell oak, cherry, walnut, hickory, birch. You name it they got it. It is better quality, but it may cost a bit more. It will pay for itself in the end.
Re: Red Oak Plywood
Curtis Gray
>Thanks for your reply. I am not concerned about the price. I am concerned as to weather I can buy Red Oak plywood, vs White Oak plywood.
Re: Red Oak Plywood
Jack Guzman from Maine
>All the oak plywood at every home depot around here is red oak.I don't know where you are so I can't say what your area has for sale. Actually I've never seen or heard of any white oak plywood.---Jack
Re: Red Oak Plywood
Jim DeLaney, Austintown, Ohio
>All the oak ply I've seen has been red oak, unless it was specifically labeled as white. I've actually only seen that at one place so far.
A local dealer had "Quartersawn White Oak" plywood last week - at $160.00 per sheet.
BTW, I bought three sheets of rotary cut RED oak, A-!, for $64.99 per sheet there.
No matter where you get your oak ply, be very aware that the surface veneers are only about 1/40" thick (or less), and being oak, are very brittle. Tear-out can really be a problem with oak ply. Usually try to cut my pieces about an eighth inch over, and trim the edges with a router and straightedge. This keeps the tear-out and splintering to a minimum.
Couple things...
Ellis Walentine
>First, I'm curious as to where you would be using a sheet of plywood for a small table. I'm thinking that solid wood would be the better choice, unless there is some overriding reason to use plywood. I would not use plywood for a tabletop, and I can't think of anywhere else on a table that you would possibly use it. At 1/40" or whatever, it is not a good bet for longevity.
Regarding red vs white oak plywood, as someone mentioned, you will probably not find the latter anywhere but from a specialized plywood supplier; so, odds are that any oak plywood you find at the big box will be red oak.
As far as telling red oak from white oak, experience is the best teacher. Get a piece of each and compare them closely. You will likely see that the color of the red oak is a bit rosier and the white oak more of a brownish-golden tan. The pores of red oak are more open, and the rays of quartered white oak are more pronounced. If you take a sample of your edging with you to the plywood store and hold it up to the plywood in question, you should be able to tell if they look similar enough. One other thing, though: plywood of the same species almost never looks exactly like the solid wood. It's usually lighter and more bland looking. Don't ask me why; I think it has to do with the quality of the cants they use to produce the veneer and/or the soaking process. Whatever, the color is likely to be different and they will take stain and finish differently. That's why I'd try to figure out how to make the whole table from solid wood.
My 2¢,
Ellis Walentine, Host
Re: Couple things...
Curtis Gray
>I am going to reproduce a small table in a church that will hold a statue. Both tables will be in the same chapel in this church. The original tables top and bottom are constructed of oak plywood, and the plywood matches the solid wood banding perfectly. The original table has no stain, and is finished with medium sheen poly. I have a good supply of air dried red oak that was cut several years ago, and as Ellis said, my air dried wood is very rosy in appearance, much more so than the oak ply that I saw at Home Depot.
I have a picture of the table on my camera, but am not computer savy enough to be able to post it for you all to see (sorry). If anyone can help me here, I would be happy to post a pic.
Thank you all for your insight. I'll let you know what happens.
Re: Couple things... *LINK*
Ellis Walentine
>I was just in Lowe's and saw their red oak plywood selection, which consisted of rotary-cut red oak in a couple thicknesses. As expected, the red oak color looked pretty washed out, which is probably what you're experiencing. The answer may be to either stain the plywood with a very dilute wash coat of stain to bring the color into the range you want, or you might consider toning the finished product by adding a tiny amount of compatible dye to your finish coat.
Regarding picture uploads, our FAQ (see menu bar at left) page has some information about this, as does the link below. Take the time to read them and then let us know if you still have any questions.
Ellis Walentine, Host
Photo resizing post
Re: Couple things...
Curtis Gray
>Ill give it a try Ellis. Thanks.
Re: Rotary cut veneer
Glenn Madsen near San Francisco
>There are a couple of ways to cut veneer for oak ply, and 'rotary cut' was mentioned at least twice.
Rotary cut means that they mount the wet log on a couple of spndles, and turn it at though on a large lathe, peeling the veneer in large sheets from the log. With red oak particularly, this makes for some 'interesting' grain patterns, seldom, if ever, seen in solid lumber.
Sliced, or quartersawn, (or maybe some other names) veneers are also available. It looks a lot more like a glued up solid panel, costs a bit more, and usually comes from a professional plywood dealer. If you want to use plywood, see if you can find one of those folks. They are often in the yellow pages under hardwood wholesalers. Take maybe $75-$90 cash with you, and make a friend.