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Saw a new brand of plywood today at Lowes Revolution Ply http://www.patriottimber.com/plywood-lumber-products/revolutionply-2/

It comes in various thickness 2.7mm up to 18mm in 4 x 8 sheets as well as 3 x 7. But Lowe's does not carry that full range, they only have one choice.

What they had in stock at Lowes that I saw was 5mm in 4 x 8 sheets priced at $14.00 a sheet. Lowes item number 518477. It think it looks nice enough to use for cabinets but you might want a thinner sheet for wall paneling. It is called a B grade utility but the pieces I saw were much nicer than an B grade, as good as most A grade sheet goods.

I really liked the surface finish, it was very fine grained, all vertical. Lovely to look at unless you prefer lots of wavy grain and/or knots. But fine grained vertical is very classy and will be especially appropriate in a modern style renovation. It looks to me to be Meranti wood, same grain structure and it has that slightly reddish tone. Meranti is from the same family as Luan but this stuff was a lot nicer too look at than anything called Luan plywood I have ever purchased especially any that I have gotten from the lumber yard recently.

The plywood from Lowes has a clear coat primer which forms a moisture barrier, made with exterior glues, both sides of the sheet that I saw were nice looking. A minimal amount of very small voids were visible on the edges.

It is from China certified from sustainable sources of timbers.

Lowes was carrying some of the other sheet good products from this company, Patrior Timber, such as their underlayment plywood. It also looked to be a nice material.

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I have bought Chinese plywood from Lowes and never will again and Home Depot is no better the plys separate it was bad enough I could not use it on a project. I have some pieces in my work shop I'll see if I can get a photo. The South American stuff its OK.

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post-669-0-63457200-1410816048_thumb.jpgIt is not Luan it is finish grade one side it is less that 6 months old it is from China and I'll never buy any more so maybe the west coast gets better stuff but I doubt it. The piece in the photo is not as bad as some of the other pieces. It's not for me but don't let me stop you.

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The Chinese have been flooding the market with plywood and some is excellent quality. I can't speak on the Lowes stuff since I haven't tried it. The hardwood plywood that Home Depot is selling as "underlayment" is made from Chinese Birch and uses exterior glue. Also sold for use in damp areas. I tested some pieces in a washing machine and it tested excellent. NO delamination. I did the upper bunk in my Minicruiser with it.

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The plywood market changed a few years back. The USA put in place laws that require manufacturers to prove the wood used in this kind of sheet goods comes from sustainable sources.

I've had no trouble getting high-quality marine plywood. It just costs a heck of lot more then it used to. I think the US wood-laws are a joke. So is what was done to Gibson Guitar and the Federal "wood raid" done on them. I regard it as a huge abuse of power. The USA squandered natural resources for most of it's existence. Those here and those over-seas. Now that as a nation - we've decided to pretend to be more careful - we have these regs and often bad-mouth places like China for not following our lead. I say "good for China." Let them dump plywood at below cost and I'll ride the wave and buy while cheap. The Chinese helped build this country once-upon-a-time and we then threw them out via the "Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882." Now they are getting even. Dumping goods at below cost and buying up the US. This as we make 85 billion bucks out of thin air each month and go deeper and deeper into debt.

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  • 5 months later...

The Chinese have been flooding the market with plywood and some is excellent quality. I can't speak on the Lowes stuff since I haven't tried it. The hardwood plywood that Home Depot is selling as "underlayment" is made from Chinese Birch and uses exterior glue. Also sold for use in damp areas. I tested some pieces in a washing machine and it tested excellent. NO delamination. I did the upper bunk in my Minicruiser with it.

That came out really well! I'm in the process of the exact same project in my Dolphins cabover.

A few questions:

  1. What is the best way to go about making the curved cuts for the sides of the cabover?
  2. How is it holding up?

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I used a hand-held jig-saw. If you cut the sides with the curves in front and install them first, the front paneling will cover those curved ends a bit so it need not be 100% perfect. Since I had no pattern to work with, I cut cardboard to slide in there (for the side panels) and fit first. I then used the cardboard as a pattern and traced it on to the new plywood to cut. You want to use a fine blade if cutting plywood with a thin finish veneer on it to keep that veneer from getting peeled and torn when sawing.

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DP:

What jdemaris said plus once you make the cardboard template and lay it down on the new wood, draw a line around the outside of the template with a pencil. Before cutting, get a box cutter ( or utility knife or razor knife or whatever you want to call it) and make a cut right on the pencil line. Go at least through the first layer of wood with your cut. Then when you cut out the piece, stay just to the throw-away side of the cut line and you won't have any chipping at all.

Also, if you're only using 1/8" thick paneling, just cut the whole thing out with the utility knife. That's what I used in my '85 Dolphin and it has held up just fine. Use a new, sharp blade! It'll take a couple of passes to go all the way through but it'll work great. Saves you having to go buy a jig saw if you don't have one...

John

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Thanks for the help JD and John! My thought was using cardboard but wanted to be sure there wasn't a better way before I dive in.

JD thats really smart to do the sides first so the front will mask inperfections! Thats the kind of thing I would realize AFTER and kick myself every time I look at the cabover. Would a 16 gauge finish nailer hold that stuff up ok or do you recommend screws? Did you remove the windows and just trace from the outside?

Yours came out awesome jd, perfect example of what I'm trying to do! Planning to sand and paint though. You guys rock, thanks again, lots more questions to come...

Edited by DirtyPatches
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Anyone dealt with this repair/ have suggestions...

The former owner drug the behind of it looks like and the rear wall is seperating from the floor. Most of the screws are missing on the underside and screws arent grabbing anything when I try to ram some back in.

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You should start its own thread for that repair under the general category. It will get lost in a thread that is about plywood that is being sold at Lowes.

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  • 3 years later...
On 3/14/2015 at 6:05 PM, zero said:

I used a hand-held jig-saw. If you cut the sides with the curves in front and install them first, the front paneling will cover those curved ends a bit so it need not be 100% perfect. Since I had no pattern to work with, I cut cardboard to slide in there (for the side panels) and fit first. I then used the cardboard as a pattern and traced it on to the new plywood to cut. You want to use a fine blade if cutting plywood with a thin finish veneer on it to keep that veneer from getting peeled and torn when sawing.

post-6578-0-20317300-1426370689_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-77422400-1426370690_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-36912700-1426370692_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-72441300-1426370693_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-17512400-1426370696_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-69478400-1426370698_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-15952800-1426370700_thumb.jp

My 85 Huntsman has similar water damage in cab-over bed on the driver side...appears to have been leak from damaged air fan in bathroom as well as roof leaks. These are great pics...may I print and use as reference?

 

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20 hours ago, linda s said:

Poster has not been here in a long time. All pictures on this site can be printed. They become part of the site so be my guest

Linda S

Thank you Linda, I try to ask first...the way the poster went about repairing his cab-over bed is much the same I need to do with mine.

Happy New Year

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  • 6 months later...
On 3/14/2015 at 3:05 PM, zero said:

I used a hand-held jig-saw. If you cut the sides with the curves in front and install them first, the front paneling will cover those curved ends a bit so it need not be 100% perfect. Since I had no pattern to work with, I cut cardboard to slide in there (for the side panels) and fit first. I then used the cardboard as a pattern and traced it on to the new plywood to cut. You want to use a fine blade if cutting plywood with a thin finish veneer on it to keep that veneer from getting peeled and torn when sawing.

post-6578-0-20317300-1426370689_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-77422400-1426370690_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-36912700-1426370692_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-72441300-1426370693_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-17512400-1426370696_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-69478400-1426370698_thumb.jp

post-6578-0-15952800-1426370700_thumb.jp

Hey Zero,

Do you have any pics of how you framed the sides and bed?  Did you use 3/4" for any of it?  

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Hi Linda,

I'm overwhelmed with how I want to rebuild my overhead walls and bed.  Do you have top 5 threads you recommend or particular member that is great go-to for this?

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Not saying I'm any kind of expert, but you'll find some ideas on my thread from a few yrs back (I didn't have to get into the sidewalls much, however). 

 

 

I wouldn't recommend using 3/4" ply everywhere: too heavy and not much insulation value. If you can manage it, I'd suggest trying to frame with 1x material (pocket holes work great for this), putting foam board in the gaps, and then overlaying with a good quality, lightweight ply (glued and screwed to frame). Polyurethane-based adhesives are pricey but very strong and weather resistant. Stainless steel screws are a nice touch, but deck screws will do the job well, too.

 

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