Best plywood from Lowe’s??

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silentneko
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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by silentneko »

No Lowes around here in Lakeland has marine ply. Think it's a very local thing in some areas.
Built: 15ft Skiff, 16ft Skiff, Modified Cheap Canoe, and an FS17.

Aripeka Angler
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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by Aripeka Angler »

silentneko wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:22 am No Lowes around here in Lakeland has marine ply.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/3-4-CAT-PS1-09 ... 8/50254845

Fir marine ply is not hard to find, even if your local Lowe’s doesn’t stock it.
Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t use fir unless I was on a tight budget...
Richard
Completed boats...XF20 "Red Alert", Aripeka Angler's Strip Canoe, FS18 “Bare Bones”, GF12
Currently building...PY12 Kayak
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. - Loren Eiseley
Bare Bones build thread...
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62146

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Netpackrat
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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by Netpackrat »

I recently saw some of the best looking fir 1/4” ACX that I have seen in years at a home depot here in Anchorage. Was tempted to get some just because, but factoring in cost of resin and glass plus the effort involved, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to build a boat with it anymore.

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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by gonandkarl »

Hi RickFenn,
You should listen to all above comments before You buy the plywood, I definitely agree it is worth to buy the best marine ply you can get and as you both need 14 sheets of plywood shipping cannot be the stumbling block. Your boats will last a lot longer with marine Okoume plywood.
Please let us know what you have decided.
Greetings from Karl
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http://gallery.bateau2.com/index.php?cat=87433

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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by BB Sig »

Jeff ships plywood at a very low cost...

TomW1
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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by TomW1 »

Please be ware of buying so called Marine plywood from the big box stores. I have seen the quality go down significantly over the last 10 years. Unless your using it for a short term boat project that will not last more than 5 years or so buy the good ply here and have it shipped to you or find local sources of Meranti/Okume. Don't use CDX except for small test boats, but build on, build on, build on. :D

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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by bklake »

There is no "best" ply from any box store. I used some ply from Home Depot to make a console. It was made in Chile, don't remember the brand name. Anyway, I used a lot of this ply for house projects and scraps left outside never delaminated. It seemed like a good idea. It soaked up more epoxy than I've ever seen wood soak up. The expansion and contraction cracked the epoxy and soon failed. Turned out to be a bad idea.

Break the boat project down into its main parts. Hull, fiberglass and epoxy, engine, paint and fittings. The hull is the foundation on which all else is based. Don't hold me to these numbers, they are for example only. You will spend roughly $300 on box store good ply. The CNC kit here is $1400 and $650 for bulk goods. $7-800 fiberglass and epoxy. $2-3000 engine and systems (used), $3-400 paint and fittings. Another $1000 in things I can't think of. Now factor in all your time and effort. Lets say it cost $6500 to put the boat in the water. By going with cheap ply, you saved $1100 over the kit price and $300 over bulk sheets. The cheap ply will surely take way more epoxy than you planned (more cost), will need to be fully glassed (more cost and weight) for any hope of protection and weigh far more than Okoume. And it will fail in 5 years, tops.

You wasted all of your time and effort, which is the most valuable part of the project. You wasted epoxy, fiberglass, and paint. You should still have your engine and salvage fittings. Is it still worth it to save a few hundred dollars?

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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by Netpackrat »

Looking at it from a different angle, using lesser plywood is skimping on something you can’t fix later on. If you skimp on the motor with a cheap, worn out unit, you can fix that later when more money becomes available.

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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by Natalie21 »

Plywood for a boat floor is categorized by grade, and marine plywood is either A or B grade. The outer part is A grade, while the opposite side is B grade. The core can be a B grade or much better. It’s usually made with 7-ply lamination that is bound by waterproof glue. The thickness would be.75" or thicker because of this finishing.
Last edited by Natalie21 on Thu Jul 07, 2022 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

silentneko
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Re: Best plywood from Lowe’s??

Post by silentneko »

Just a FYI this thread is years old. And 0.75" for just a boat floor on a small craft is insanely heavy. Even on a larger craft I would use maybe 1/2" at most. 3/8" is enough in most cases if properly done and braced.
Built: 15ft Skiff, 16ft Skiff, Modified Cheap Canoe, and an FS17.

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