Lowe's arauco plywood

[Tom O'Shea]

I want to add one more thing to Bill's note on Lowe's ply--the Arauco 1/2" often has a completley patch-free face on one side. Sometimes only one patch. It even LOOKS high-quality.

Isn't it also FSC certified, from managed forests?

Tom O'Shea

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I want to add one more thing to Bill's note on Lowe's ply--the Arauco 1/2" often has a completley patch-free face on one side. Sometimes only one patch. It even LOOKS high-quality.

Isn't it also FSC certified, from managed forests?

Tom O'Shea

It has the look of a tropical semi-hardwood, so it could be 'farm' raised. Some of the stuff I got was so good on the C side that you could hardly tell it from the A side.

[Tim A]

They still aren't carrying it around here. I emailed Lowes CS and they said, quite curtly: Ask the store.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

They still aren't carrying it around here. I emailed Lowes CS and they said, quite curtly: Ask the store.

Distance from the distributor is the usual reason for what is/isn't carried on a regional basis.

[CBIERN]

I just built an Omni 10.5 from it and other than a bit of warp here and there, it was as easy to deal with as the Baltic birch with less weight. I hated to carpet the box beacuse the surface was so good for Duratex with a minimum of sanding. For 23 bucks a sheet it's a bargain.

[fender3x]

For 23 bucks a sheet it's a bargain.

I live in one of the areas where Lowes does not carry this... They'll order single sheets for me, but they cost $43 each.

5 ply clear radiata pine at about $28-32. BB is not available at all locally. Virola and Okume are relatively common (and cheaper than pine) but have veneers that are too thin. In such an environment, do you figure Arauco is worth ordering from Lowes, or should I stick to the radiata pine...which I am using now.

The one bit of good news for SoFla builders is that 1/8 and 3/8 bendy is cheap and easily available in full (4x8), half or quarter sized sheets.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I wouldn't spend silly $ to get Arauco unless you can't find something locally that works.

[Tim A]

Virola and Okume are relatively common (and cheaper than pine) but have veneers that are too thin.

Keep in mind you can route a shallow (1/8") dado and remove the veneer from the equation. If it's a matter of $20/sheet for them and $43/sheet for the other stuff, I'd route. It takes about 10-20 minutes to do both sides of a sub. Just make sure you add 1/4" to the panels and it'll end up the same width.

[Randall Dibble]

I've resorted to drilling BUNCH holes into all the mating surfaces and then use a big bead glue. I hope the holes act as if they where rivets and hold things together better.

Is there anything wrong with my reasoning??

[fender3x]

I've resorted to drilling BUNCH holes into all the mating surfaces and then use a big bead glue. I hope the holes act as if they where rivets and hold things together better.

Is there anything wrong with my reasoning??

I don't know if there is or isn't, but you might as well poke a dado in if you've drilled the hole anyway.

Come to think of it, there might be a reason to put in a dado: it fills the hole. PL, being a liquid, can leak out before it cures, so it is possible that you could get an air leak that way. I had a few places where when I drilled my dado hole I hit a void or just broke through the side of the plywood accidentaly.

If you slather PL all over a dado what happens is the PL expands and fills any remaining space between the plywood and the dado. You can actually see the plywood bulge from the PL expansion in some places.

[Randall Dibble]

My drill holes are 1/8 of an inch and spaced every half inch.

[LelandCrooks]

My drill holes are 1/8 of an inch and spaced every half inch.

Fewer holes, 1/8 dowels. If you can't find real 1/8 grooved dowel pins, drill the hole 1/16 over size and use smooth 1/8 dowel.

Then you do have rivets

[Tim A]

I don't know if there is or isn't, but you might as well poke a dado in if you've drilled the hole anyway.

Come to think of it, there might be a reason to put in a dado: it fills the hole. PL, being a liquid, can leak out before it cures, so it is possible that you could get an air leak that way. I had a few places where when I drilled my dado hole I hit a void or just broke through the side of the plywood accidentaly.

Perhaps you misunderstand. Dados aren't drilled, they're routed. Here are a pair of T-39 side panels dadoed for assembly:

[fender3x]

I don't know if there is or isn't, but you might as well poke a dado in if you've drilled the hole anyway.

Come to think of it, there might be a reason to put in a dado: it fills the hole. PL, being a liquid, can leak out before it cures, so it is possible that you could get an air leak that way. I had a few places where when I drilled my dado hole I hit a void or just broke through the side of the plywood accidentaly.

Perhaps you misunderstand. Dados aren't drilled, they're routed.

I often misunderstand. This time I think I misspoke What I meant was "dowel" rather than dado. Basically the approach Leland used. I used 1/4", but 1/8" would probably be better as he suggests. Less expansion.

Yours also looks like a good approach, and might take a little less time, at least than the way I did it. I would clamp or screw the pieces together and PL them with no dowels. Then I'd leave them to sit overnight. The next day I would take out the screws or take off the clamps, drill the holes for the dowels, PL eveyything, pop in the dowels, and then let it all sit overnight. Your way is quicker once you have the dados cut.

[DaveK]

5 ply clear radiata pine at about $28-32

As far as I can tell, this is what Arauco is. Arauco is the name of the company in Chile that produces the product Lowe's carries. They make it from plantation grown radiata pine trees and use 5 equal-thickness plys.

"5 ply clear radiata pine" sounds like a generic name for the same product from another company.