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B&Q Plywood

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B&Q Plywood

Postby 9fingers » 07 Oct 2018, 16:52

Normally I'd not go near B&Q for timber or sheet goods but a couple of weeks ago I had a non critical need for some 12mm ply that was not structural or going to be visible and I only needed a small piece so I donned deep disguise and slunk into the local branch.

I was quite surprised to find this was pretty good

Plywood B&Q 008.jpg
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(364.38 KiB)


nominal 12mm measured up at about 11.4mm outer veneers were about 10 thou (0.25mm) so very very little scope for sanding but the upside of the thin veneer is that it hardly splinters when cutting with a decent blade on the tablesaw as the is possible nearly as much glue as veneer!

Plywood B&Q 005.jpg
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(141.15 KiB)


Plywood B&Q 003.jpg
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(141.58 KiB)


On a number of cuts I only found one set of voids

Plywood B&Q 001.jpg
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(163.11 KiB)


The make up is 7 plies plus the veneers

Not quite a fine as 12mm real Baltic Birch (which usually also measures up slightly undersize)

Plywood B&Q 002.jpg
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(159.61 KiB)


My sample has 9 almost equal plies plus you can just see the outer facing of phenolic resin which would not normally be there on standard Baltic Birch ply


Unusually virtually the next job into the shop needed a lot of very lightweight ply so based on the 12mm experience I looked back in B&Q at their 5mm offering in the same range.

Plywood B&Q 009.jpg
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Marked as 5mm but beware it was barely 4.2 mm. Fortunately I had not machined the grooves that is had to fit into so I could accommodate the thinner stuff.

The lay up is three layers plus the perilously 10 thou thin veneers

Plywood B&Q 004.jpg
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(133.45 KiB)


I had a whole 8x4 sheet and cut this into 10 components for the job so many metres of internals exposed and not a single void spotted

I don't know if this is a move by B&Q to up their reputation or I just got lucky. Looking in detail at the labels you can see this stuff is destined for several of their outlets in UK and the EU that are all part of the Kingfisher group. Maybe they have decided that a better quality product will give them less grief? who knows.

Caveat Emptor

Bob
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby Woodster » 07 Oct 2018, 18:43

I’ve bought quite a few bits of ply for structural jobs from Wickes and it seems pretty similar to your B&Q stuff. Can’t say I like it much compared to the birch ply I got from my local timber merchants but it’s a matter of price. I do plan to buy some more birch ply in 18mm and expect it to be pricey. The problem is you have to buy a complete 8’ x 4’.
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby RogerS » 08 Oct 2018, 09:01

How on earth do they produce veneer that thin ? I wonder if they have some sort of 'veneer sawdust' in a glue suspension and the core then passes through rollers that apply the 'veneer' ?
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby 9fingers » 08 Oct 2018, 09:45

RogerS wrote:How on earth do they produce veneer that thin ? I wonder if they have some sort of 'veneer sawdust' in a glue suspension and the core then passes through rollers that apply the 'veneer' ?



The surface veneers look like perfectly normal wood with a natural looking grain pattern that does not appear to repeat as it might if man made. You can see it in my photos of the labels. I suspect it is fitted thicker and sanded down. That is a great testament to the quality/flatness of the plies below as any marks or voids would grin through the finished sanded veneers.
I really is surprisingly good stuff.

Bob
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby Malc2098 » 08 Oct 2018, 11:59

It seems to be a similar product that I used on my recent cabinets and drawers.

Yes, I could only give it a very light sanding before I sealed it with a WBP.
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby Woodbloke » 08 Oct 2018, 18:23

Woodster wrote:I’ve bought quite a few bits of ply for structural jobs from Wickes


Same here; Wickes is usually now my first port of call for shed grade ply and generally it's not too bad. Looks like Bn'Poo may have upped their game unless Bob9f got lucky :D as in the past it's been appalling - Rob
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby Coolhands » 12 Nov 2018, 21:09

Coincidentally I happened to watch this short film about plywood recently

https://youtu.be/eF5LVBW1vl8
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby TrimTheKing » 13 Nov 2018, 11:12

:text-bravo: :obscene-drinkingcheers:

I love videos like that, very calming to watch.

:text-goodpost:
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby Malc2098 » 13 Nov 2018, 11:24

:text-+1:
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Re: B&Q Plywood

Postby 9fingers » 13 Nov 2018, 11:37

I was interested to see that to a first approximation the diameter of the logs they started with in the second film were about the same as the rejected ones in the first.
Possibly driven my the need to use less mature trees and to get greater yields. Also good illustration of far less manpower nowadays with computer control of much of the process.

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