Building a wall cabinet for a hand tools using what's sold locally (i'm in Ireland) in 18mm (used to be 3/4in) marine ply. I didn't dare to buy the stock grade, and the WBP/construction grade initially ordered and delivered went back immediately as it was obviously rubbish.
This Eastern 'marine' ply was a lot more expensive (heaven help anybody that uses it for a boat), and is only a shade better - the reddish (luan?) top veneers are sanded through/thin in places at the edges, there's lots of internal defects (voids/overlaps rolled together etc), some of the inner layers are mush, it messes saw blades up in no time with glue/resin, and it's warping as soon it's cut free of the panel. As luck would have it the pieces used so far for the back and sides were nothing like as bad, and the rebates straightened it fairly well.
Trouble is i've just cut the pieces for five shelves, and all are warped. (bent crosswise rather than twisted) I could cut another set from another sheet, but would prefer to send it back/there's no guarantee it'll be any better.
1. Does anybody know of any fixes that might straighten the shelf strips - at least for long enough to get them glued in? ( each is 112 x 900 x 18mm - the ends are glued into rebates, and the back edge to the full thickness back panel)
2. Does anybody make decent quality birch and standard WBP and marine grades of ply any more on a scale that's likely to be sold in Europe?
Thanks