Plywood size rant

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:32 pm

I needed some 1/8” material for drawer bottoms. Thought I'd pick it up while in Tucson for Thanksgiving. Turns out that the places I'd go for good plywood were all closed on Friday. That was OK, they should have that time with their families. Or, to fight the hordes of Black Friday shoppers.

So, went on the “My Lowes” website before we left Tucson and found some 1/8” ply labeled “Hardwood Plywood” supposed to be in stock at the store closest to my house in the mountains.
After the 6 hour drive home and unpacking the pick up, (my wife must take half the house for a 4 day visit) I made another 40 mile trip south to Lowes to get the ply. When I got there, I found that 1/8th plywood was actually 5MM. And it was indeed labeled as that. The young guy in lumber said they never carried 1/8" ply of any species. When I told him their website said they carried it, he just shrugged. What was strange was that they had true 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 of the same material in stock.

Damn, that irritates me.

Since I was unable to get some true 1/8” in Tucson, I had no options left so I bought the 5MM.

Guess I’ll just make two passes on the table saw.

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:54 pm

Hey Gene, you should have gone where I go for "cheap" plywood. I use 1/8" Mahogany(ish) plywood from HD on the outsides of my veneer packets .... remember yours? They sell it in 4'X 8' sheets and call it plywood. At home it comes in something like 36"X 80" and they call it door skins. Maybe that's what you get for being in Tucson and not calling me ........ just sayin' ... :-)

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Mon Dec 02, 2013 7:05 am

Hey Paul,
Didn't know you were in AZ. Welcome back.
The HD up here doesn't carry that. Or, more likely the guy I asked didn't know they did!