Large Scale Central

An Inexpensive source for thin plywood

Modeling Technical Modeling
#1

I have found a source for thin (about 1/8" thick), high quality plywood. We have a construction materials recycling facility in Pittsburgh where you can buy used hollow core doors for $5 each.

These doors use high quality plywood for their faces. With a little work you can split the door in half recovering just the face material.

I have notes on how I do this on my web page here:

http://trainelectronics.com/LaserEngraver/#A_Source_for_High_Quality,_Inexpensive_Thin_Plywood

Even though I have been using this with my laser cutter it can surely be used for a host of projects.

dave

#2

Neet!

#3

Great find!

#4

Great find but looking at the pictures they must not have used very much glue on that door. I’ve handled lots of hollow core doors in my days of construction and had to rebuild several. I wished they had come apart as easy as that door looks like it did.

#5

Chuck - I don’t think the issue was the amount of glue but the age of the doors - most of the blue was brittle and broke loose with a quick hammer whack. The doors looked like they could have been from the 50’s! Ideal for disassembly

dave

#6

I don’t see the issue…I can purchase Luan door skins from several places…including Lowe’s and Home Depot.

#7

Bob, for $5 for 2 skins?

#8

And it’s pre sun-dried too!

#9

@David M - It has been quite some time since I looked, so I am not sure of the price. Observation only though, whatever the price it won’t take near the amount of effort to get full usage. My experience has been like chuck’s above…not so easy to get apart. Most of the doors I have tried to repair or dis-assemble have been a real pain to separate, with mediocre to less than satisfactory results.

#10

for $4 for 4 square feet off the shelf on Lowes (and we buy 4x8 sheets for about $8 at a local lumberyard), I can’t see it is worth the effort. Every door I’ve tried to take apart were glued together really well, and many of them had honeycomb or randomly placed spacers.

There was so much glue all over the place, that there were very few “clean” areas to use.

#11

I must be lucky in picking doors from the recyclers! I have had very little difficulty removing the innards and have been left with large sheets of plywood.

One trick I have used is to shake the door - if I hear any rattling it indicates that the glue has likely dried up!

I think the stuff at Lowe’s and Home Depot is Luan (Lauan ?) (an open grain wood) that is not particularly good for the laser cutter / engraver - I have been picking doors that have hardwood vernier (maple mostly) that works beautifully. It is also thinner than most of the offerings from the big boxes, 1/8" thick vs 3/16" or more.

dave

#12

Dave since the door you posted had a wood frame interior, its much older then the newer doors that have the cardboard interior supports. So I think you are on track with dried glue and better quality wood.

Along similar lines, I used to bring home old broken furniture from the trash to cut up for projects. Its free wood, and if you look carefully you can get some nice hardwood. But since I started using cedar for my projects, I gave up on the salvaged wood.

#13

Yep, you are getting the old stuff, and the interior supports are spaced much further apart, so even with some glue, there are good wide open spots so to speak.

The newer construction doors have so much glue applied in so many places it does not make sense.

Greg