Good Supply Location

[Brandon Weiss]

So far on the creek I've discovered many things. And been told many things. And been informed about many things, etc. All of which are appreciated. One of the things I've learned is that gloating about anything wood purchased at a BORG will not earn you any bonus points here at the creek. So, I'm looking for some local wood supply advice. As my NYW Router Station planning comes to a close and the actual building nears I need a good place to find some, what Lowe's calls Project Plywood, or Aruaco Plywood. I really like the Project Plywood from Lowe's. I just used it to build a book case and I think it was easy to work with and looks nice. Even though I'll be painting the book case. I still like the look of it. Call me weird, sure, I have different taste. What I need to find is a good place to find Project or Aruaco Plywood that is nice and flat. It usually takes me a while to find some flat stock at Lowe's. And even their flattest stock still has a bow/warp to it. Maybe that's the way it is with all plywoods, I don't know. But, if there is such a place to find the flat stuff, anybody want to spill the beans on where that be in the Phoenix Area? I live in the East Valley and would like a place in that area, but I'm willing to drive to Phoenix for the good stuff.

[Lee Schierer]

Use what is available and within your budget. There are people that can get premium hardwood veneered plywood from local suppliers. Living where I do, only one of those type of suppliers exists and their stock is limited. The higher number of layered plywood from the Borgs is okay for most shop cabinet projects. The trick is to get a sheet as flat and defect free as you can see and use it in your project and build your project in a way that will over come any defects. This project was built with Lowes plywood. The owner is still very pleased with it and it has not warped, split, cracked or come apart in the five years since it was built. I could have driven 125 miles each way to get better quality ply and paid nearly twice as much, but it might have exceeded the cost the customer was willing to pay and the time I could afford to dedicate to the project.

Norm used prefinished ply for his recent series of kitchen cabinets. The only way I can get any of that is to buy an entire bunk of plywood and pay the freight to get it here.

Almost forgot, here's another project made from select pine from HD. It is curly pine.

[Brandon Weiss]

Nice looking piece. You are correct, the budged certainly plays a part in my choices. As does my limited tooling so far. I don't have a jointer or planer yet. Plus, I really like working with the project ply stuff instead of the hardwood ply just because the veneer on the hardwood stuff is so thin. I managed to pick up a few scrap pieces of birch ply from the HD Cull Lumber pile. I got about 2x4 total for 2 bucks. I used a little of it for a nightstand project and didn't like it because any nick or ding on the edge that was sanded also took away a chunk of the veneer.

[Shawn Patel]

Any purchase of wood is a worthy gloat IMHO. I've found nice pieces of curly maple at my local lowes. If you just need a small piece of something for accents or an inlay, it's hard to beat.

Part of the beauty of the BORG's is when they occasionally get in good stuff.

Woodworking has made me a scrounge. I look at people's garbage and old 'free pallet' piles with an eye only another Creeker might have, thinking, "hmmm, what can I make outa that". Can I get an Amen? (Crickets chirping....) Ok, maybe I'm alone there.

But next time you find a piece of wood that tickles you - be it a mighty haul of the blackest 8/4 walnut you've ever seen, or a spindly Bradford Pear branch that fell in yr neighbor's yard, know that there's Shawn out there feelin' yr love!