Fixing Delaminating Plywood

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I bought a dodgy board of 17 mm thick pine ply that has multiple areas of delamination. I found this out after I cut the board up - so no returns are possible. Of course the delamination is on what is now both sides of a cabinet that I making for the storing tools in my shed. Luckily the cabinet is not one of the ones I will be making for the kitchen. I think I will be sourcing my next batch of ply from a different supplier for the kitchen cabinets.

Just wondering what process people have successfully used to make delaminated ply - where the first veneer has domed itself up - flat again?

I used a utility knife to cut down the length of the doming with parallel cuts about 5 mm apart. I then used a putty knife to lift the veneer and ran some glue under the lifted up layer of ply. I put a plastic bag over the area and then put some flat particle board down. Some weights were then laid over the top of the board. The area with the weights was left overnight for the glue to dry.

Has anyone else successfully used a different technique to smooth out delaminations in their plywood? If so, could you please describe how you went about it.

Kind regards
Lionel

[p38arover]

I think I'd still be taking it back.

[loanrangie]

Pump it full of PVA and clamp it.

[Lionelgee]

Pump it full of PVA and clamp it.

Hello Loan Rangie,

Yep... I did do a variation of that... I had to use weights because the location of the bulge excluded the use of clamps. I did use PVA glue as well. Although it might be time to step up to that more flash yellow glue stuff.

In relation to Ron's response - by the time I noticed the delamination those parts of the sheet of ply had been turned into cabinet sides with all the shelves secured. I figured that was somewhere around the point of not being able to return the goods.

The exercise of making the battery recharging cabinet was to refresh my cabinet building skills before I launch into making the kitchen cabinets. I learnt that one does not buy ply sheets of ply made in Brazil which is sold at the big green hardware store. I did buy for sheets and only one was dodgy - just one too many though. The stuff was not cheap! It is funny how some lyrics from an old song that I probably only heard once in my life can stick in the brain ... the lyrics go ... "they sell an awful lot of coffee in Brazil" ... that is what popped into my mind soon as I read where the ply was made... :0)

Well a bit of a diversion via the Internet and I must have misheard the lyrics ... Accessed 28th July 2023 from The Coffee Song - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coffee_Song) ... "The Coffee Song" (occasionally subtitled "They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil") is a novelty song written by Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946. Later that year it was recorded by The Smart Set, and by others in later years. Well not the Frank Sinatra version .... much better ... Osibisa The Coffee Song 1976 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-hTmqLuMI) Osibisa The Coffee Song (1976)


At least now all my machines from the Triton Workstation 2000 to my little Ryobi router are all set up ready to take on the next carpentry challenge. Plus, my ability to square sheets of ply off accurately has been sorted out too. It is a shame that when they built my old Queenslander house they did not have a square, spirit level or a plumb-line.

Kind regards
Lionel

[V8Ian]

Hello Loan Rangie,

Yep... I did do a variation of that... I had to use weights because the location of the bulge excluded the use of clamps. I did use PVA glue as well. Although it might be time to step up to that more flash yellow glue stuff.

In relation to Ron's response - by the time I noticed the delamination those parts of the sheet of ply had been turned into cabinet sides with all the shelves secured. I figured that was somewhere around the point of not being able to return the goods.

The exercise of making the battery recharging cabinet was to refresh my cabinet building skills before I launch into making the kitchen cabinets. I learnt that one does not buy ply sheets of ply made in Brazil which is sold at the big green hardware store. I did buy for sheets and only one was dodgy - just one too many though. The stuff was not cheap! It is funny how some lyrics from an old song that I probably only heard once in my life can stick in the brain ... the lyrics go ... "they sell an awful lot of coffee in Brazil" ... that is what popped into my mind soon as I read where the ply was made... :0)

Well a bit of a diversion via the Internet and I must have misheard the lyrics ... Accessed 28th July 2023 from The Coffee Song - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coffee_Song) ... "The Coffee Song" (occasionally subtitled "They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil") is a novelty song written by Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946. Later that year it was recorded by The Smart Set, and by others in later years. Well not the Frank Sinatra version .... much better ... Osibisa The Coffee Song 1976 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-hTmqLuMI) Osibisa The Coffee Song (1976)


At least now all my machines from the Triton Workstation 2000 to my little Ryobi router are all set up ready to take on the next carpentry challenge. Plus, my ability to square sheets of ply off accurately has been sorted out too. It is a shame that when they built my old Queenslander house they did not have a square, spirit level or a plumb-line.

Kind regards
Lionel
Is your middle name Jerry? [bigwhistle]

[Tins]

It is a shame that when they built my old Queenslander house they did not have a square, spirit level or a plumb-line.

Kind regards
Lionel



Aahh, but they did. It's just that X X X X has never been a reliable unit of measurement.

[Lionelgee]

Is your middle name Jerry? [bigwhistle]

Hello Ian,

Nope - my middle name is Glenn...

I reckon the original builders of my home knew all about Jerry building. According to one of the 80 year-old grandsons of one of the previous owners, the house was originally built on site about 40 kilometres away. Then sometime when the 1900s were still pretty new the house was transported to the current site for the family whose grandparents previously lived here. Maybe the move from the original site to here ... and the lowering from a high-set house to a low-set - by the grandparents threw everything out of square, and plumb, and level. Have I built in enough allowances for everything now needing to be made 'bespoke' to fit the uniqueness of my house.

Kind regards
Lionel

[V8Ian]

Lionel, my reference was to JerryD, of this forum. He's fastidious about straight, level and square.

He was doing some work at a friend's house, with another of the owner's friends in attendance. Jerry was frustrated by the straight, level and square thing, or more accurately, lack of, and exclaimed "Who the :censored: built this house?"
The third paty admitted it was him, asking why Jerry enquired.
Jerry's retort referred to the builder's ownership and ability to use a tape measure, square and spirit level. [bigrolf]

[Lionelgee]

Lionel, my reference was to JerryD, of this forum. He's fastidious about straight, level and square.

He was doing some work at a friend's house, with another of the owner's friends in attendance. Jerry was frustrated by the straight, level and square thing, or more accurately, lack of, and exclaimed "Who the :censored: built this house?"
The third paty admitted it was him, asking why Jerry enquired.
Jerry's retort referred to the builder's ownership and ability to use a tape measure, square and spirit level. [bigrolf]

Hello Ian,

Well, with your explanation I would have to say I fully agree with JerryD's stance. Having things so far out of plumb, square, or level sends me round the twist. Now is that a pun or not - teehee!

Nothing like the good old Pythagora's 3 4 5 triangle or even just taking the briefest moment in time to get matching hypotenuse measurements.

There are two rooms in this house which are plumb square and level ... I rebuilt them. Oh the rooms also now have top and bottom plates and noggins in the wall frames.

To be fair, back when the house was first built they might not have been part of the building code. Or if there was a building code back then.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Don 130]

Take it back. That's a manufacturing fault that wouldn't found until you cut it. The consumer guarantee says you're entitled to a refund, repair or replacement. Your choice. You don't have to do work you've already paid to have done.
Don.

[Slunnie]

I put a plastic bag over the area


I did use PVA glue as well. Although it might be time to step up to that more flash yellow glue stuff.

See how you go, but this often isn't a good combination. You'll note that PVA in the bottle doesn't cure, even when the lids not on. Normally a PVA job needs to breath so the glue can set. Things like vacuum bags or gladwrapping normally would use a chemical set glue.

[BradC]

It is a shame that when they built my old Queenslander house they did not have a square, spirit level or a plumb-line.

Sounds like my place. Late 60's double brick on limestone foundations. Not a 90 degree corner to be found, and when we ripped the bath out we found it had been leveled on a stack of folded up VB cartons. Explains a lot.

If I ever meet the builder, the plumber or the electrician they'd better have a head start.