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Reply to "Todays lumber"

unclelouiesboy posted:

 There was at one time a thread on here that talked about making bench work from plywood and gave the dimensions for ripping a 4 x 8 sheet to get the maximum amount of strips out of it that were of the same dimension . I have tried to find it using the search feature with no success. Does any one have that information they could share ? or have any idea of the title of the thread or how to find it ?  Thank you Gary

If you plan to use ripped plywood strips as framing members, take note.  A piece of 3/4" thick plywood ripped to 3 1/2" (same size as a 1"x4") will not have the strength a 1"x4" has.  Some may point out that it depends on the grade of plywood used.  That may be true.  But in my opinion, you'd have to spend too much money on a suitable grade of plywood to get comparable strength with dimension lumber.  

To counter act the weakness of ripped plywood strips, glue two of them together to form a member 1 1/2" x 3 1/2".  You could form an L girder using plywood strips but plywood does not take kindly to a screw threading into it from the edge.  

I find it surprising that so many have commented on the bad grades of 1x material, 1x4s, etc.  Even at home depot I can get decent white pine boards that are straight.  A good carpenter can make a silk purse from a sows ear.  I've had to do it on more than one occasion.  

Making L girders takes a little bit of thought when using less than perfect lumber.  Sometimes you have to make the two pieces work against one another in order to wind up with a straight girder.  

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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