Plywood

[XLeblanc]

I need to purchase some good quality plywood to make some kitchen unit carcases. I have seen some in the Brico Depot catalogue but it is not thick enough. I am looking for something about 20mm. Does anybody know where this can be bought in Creuse or Haute Vienne or do I need to add it to my next UK shopping list.

Thanks in anticipation of your replies.

Cheers

[Chas]

I don't know about local to you but it is certainly available. I bought some 22mm to replace the top of a workmate in our quite small local hardware/brico shop. 

[XLeblanc]

Maybe I just need to look a bit harder, was it expensive?

Cheers

[Gluestick]

Why use ply in the first place?

Horrendously expensive proposition!

Why not use MDF, for example?

Of if you seek a pseudo wood finish, the combination board which is skimmed with real wood?

 

[XLeblanc]

The answer is simple I was going to use hydrofuge chipboard floor boards and paint the interior, then make an oak facia for the cabinet but my good wife decided this would not be good enough therefore going down the plywood route as it will look like wood inside.

I would have used other materials but do not know how resilient they are to liquids as one of the cabinets will house the belfast sink. I have seen horrendous reactions between MDF and water in the past.

Cheers

 

 

[Gluestick]

Any composition board, such as chip, ply or MDF will "Blow" if deluged in water!

The only probable material which will live reasonably happily being drenched is of course heavily varnished marine ply.

I have found that when installing a sink into worktop made from composition covered in Formica or similar, once I have cut the hole, I deal it thoroughly with the dregs of Hammerite in older tins. Seals it chemically.

Why not construct the sink unit from either marine ply or even pine and the rest from MDF?

Interiors can be coated with polyurethene varnish for a good cleanable finish: the beauty of good MDF is that it is very regular and square.

Unless one buys top dollar bespoke kitchen and bathroom units, they are all made of HD chip or MDF, these days.

I had an acquaintance a some years ago who set up a factory making reproduction furniture for export, mainly to Scandanavian, Nordic countries and Germany.

They started out using solid wood which was later veneered: and had so many warranty claims of warping, distortion etc, eventually made all the carcasses from high quality veneered chip.

 

[XLeblanc]

I will have a look round when I get home from work on the 18th and see what is available at the suppliers near where I live. The kitchen cabinets of which there will be two will not take too many sheets of whatever kind of board I end up using.

I am more interested in the finished article than the cost as I will stil save money making the kitchen in any case. I have a few cubic metres of oak and all of the appliances so my only outlay will be for the boards to make the carcases. I had heard somewhere that plywood was really expensive.

The daft thing is I brought a sheet of 25mm back with me from the UK a few months ago to make a new table for my crosscut saw and a couple of sheets of MDF to make some router jigs. I could easily have thrown another half dozen sheets of ply in the bottom of my trailer. Nevermind I am sure it will still be cheaper than driving eight hundred miles to get some.

Cheers

 

[Anton Redman]

I hate MDF - its only redeeming feature is that it will not warp.

Would be grateful if you could post the cost of new plywood as will be negotiating for second hand plywood in the near future

[bejay]

XLB

Far Eastern  exterior grade ply  is about three times the price of plain MDF  This price difference rapidly starts to disappear when you look at surfaced MDF panels. I can guarantee you that there will be a trade scale supplier of 18 and 22 mm boards near you  wherever you are in France.but they may well be not be normal timber merchants. Exterior grade ply is marked WBP in the UK,  not sure in france.

bj