I’ve been asked to build some built-in bookshelves as a room divider. They will be painted. My question is can I use cabinet grade birch plywood with iron-on edging for the top, sides and shelves and poplar 1x materials for stiles and rails and expect the painted finishs to look similar?
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Yes. If you wanted to you could probably use poplar plywood just to be consistent and save a few $$. But Birch would work fine too.
No problem with painting the two types of wood and having them look different. A good primer itself will virtually hide the wood.
Around Poplar ply is more than birch (about $15 more).
Did you consider MDF? Easy to work, paints smooth.
Dave Otto -- Otto Construction -- PA
Have you worked with MDF before?
It is a PIA to work with, but once sanded and painted, it is flawless and it looks beautiful.
Watch you spans if you use mdf for horizontal menbers and shelves. Edge with poplar for a stronger product. Be careful with plywoods. There is a big gap in quality and price. For 25 bucks you get chinese multiply. It looks good in a stack at Home Depot, but by the time you cut it up and leave it sit for a couple of hours in your shop, it can warp and twist to a point where it is unusable. Not to mention we will never know what kind of glue they are using over there, regardless of what a msds says. Thomas the Train? American or canadian birch or maple ply is going to be 3 times the price of the chinese stuff, but much more stable.
i'll second that on the hd ply. where are they getting that stuff from? it makes lowes look like top end.
you described it perfectly,looks good then you cut it and it goes every which way. i bought some of there oak cause it "looked pretty",now i can't wait to get it used up ,then no more. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
thanks for all the opinions, I didn't know I could get poplar plywood, I think I will go that way then all is similar wood. I don't like working wit mdf, sawn ends are hard to finish and the dust is bad too