Had a full sheet of walnut veneer plywood delaminate on me mid-project

I was building a set of upper cabinets for a kitchen in Bend, Oregon, and the 3/4" sheet from my usual supplier just started peeling at the edge when I was routing for the hinges. It was a Friday afternoon, and the install was set for Monday. I had to drive two hours to a different yard in Portland to get a replacement sheet, which set me back a full day. Has anyone else had this happen with a specific supplier, and did you get any kind of credit for the bad sheet?

4 comments

4 Comments

emma_hayes801mo ago

Man, that "peeling at the edge when routing" part is rough. I've had veneer chip out before, but a full delam sounds like a glue bond failure. Was the sheet from that batch looking okay otherwise, like no bubbles or anything when you first got it? I'm just wondering if it was a one-off bad sheet or if the whole lot was sketchy.

drew_grant521mo ago

Did you check the glue spread or was the sheet just a dud from the start?

robin_schmidt5728d agoMost Upvoted

Back in 2010, I bought a whole stack of birch ply from a supplier that had a hidden glue issue. Every single sheet looked perfect until you cut it, then the layers just came apart. It makes me wonder, like drew_grant52 asked, if the problem is in the glue spread or a bad batch from the start. I ended up having to send the whole load back, which was a huge hassle. The supplier swore it was a one-time thing, but I never ordered from them again. You just can't trust material that fails from the inside out like that.

spencerh9528d ago

Yeah, that "hidden glue issue" Robin mentioned is so sneaky! I had something similar with some maple ply a few years back. The surface was flawless, but the second I ran a dado, the core just crumbled like stale bread. It makes you paranoid about every sheet now.