Oak Plywood rather than Birch Plywood?

[Gary Anderson]

Hi guys,
Has anyone used oak plywood rather than birch plywood?? Cabinet shop here in town has offer me a big stack of scrap oak plywood. I'm just not sure I can use it in place of birch??? The oak seems to be strong??? I would appreciate your input. If it will work I plan on using the oak for nose strength???
Thank You
Gary

[kenneth cook]

             Hello Gary, I'm quite sure the ply would work. One thing to keep in mind is that oak being a more open grained hardwood could be susceptible to oil permeation. Birch has a  tighter closed grain thus it works well for our motor mounts. Many times I've seen the laminated sections of veneer quality plywood being nothing more than poplar. The veneer grade plywood is more for cosmetic purposes therefore I can't see you really gaining anymore strength than using the birch. The strength is going to come from the amount of ply layers and the types of wood used in the laminating process as well as the adhesive used.  Make sure the plywood or what appears to be ply isn't a MDF product which is medium density fibreboard core. This product is just a core of compressed paper and resins and doesn't have layers.Products like these are used widespread in the cabinet industry especially in door skin applications and are more common every year. If it is indeed plywood I certainly would try using it. Ken

[Dan Berry]

I make cabinets and I can say that there is no aircraft-grade oak plywood.
Stick with the birch.

[Larry Cunningham]

Oak is a very heavy wood. Ever cut any for firewood? ;->

L.

"..uh ..(dabigatran etexilate mesilate) - stop taking Pradaxa if your tongue swells, eyes bulge, or you have thoughts about doing strange things to small animals with a fork." -consumer disclosure

[Jeff Traxler]

Hello,Plywood gets its strength from the number of laminations in the core and the material used.That oak probably has luan or some undetermined wood for the core and probably has only 3 plys.I would only use the oak for my flight box.If you don't use birch you could be asking for trouble.Trax