Emil_Blad Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Hello, I just bought a bunch of birch plywood for some workshop cabinets in the garage. I put them up against the wall for better storage but now they have become warped. What should I do? The warping will not have a great impact when I cut them down to be used in my cabinets but how should you store plywood? Horisontaly or verticly? Regards Emil from snowy Sweden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 What is the country of origin of your plywood? If it's Chinese garbage, it doesn't really matter how you store it...it's gonna warp, and there's no making it flat again. My advice would be to return it if you can, and buy the best plywood you can afford. Do you have Baltic birch in your neck of the woods? I've built shop projects with the cheap stuff in the past. It's not fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emil_Blad Posted December 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 I payed $70 for a sheet and I think it is ither Swedish or baltic birch plywood, might even be russian. It is BB quality and WBP glued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egraff Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Hi Emil, Yep - this will often happen when you lean wood up against a wall (plywood or solid). Sounds stupid, but sometimes the fix can be as simple as flipping the board around and leaning it up against the wall for a few days in the other direction (ie. it bent in toward the wall making a concave side pointing outward, so this time, point the concave side inward). As for storing it properly in the first place, vertically is good in theory as long as it is truly vertical. However, this is often very hard to do (you often can't get it truly vertical, so it bends as you describe. If you try to get it truly vertical, it is likely to fall over and hurt you....) So, horizontal is often a more practical way to go. Just make sure you store it on a flat surface (or if you put it on a rack, make sure there are braces along its entire length), or again, it will bend. - EG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pants Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Was the bottom sitting on concrete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emil_Blad Posted December 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 No I lifted it up så the sheets where standing on studs I had laying around. I have floor heating in the garage and it is epoxy painted. I have now put the sheets horizontaly on studs and tomorrow I will start cuting them up for the cabinets. Can't wait to put the new Festool TS55 to use =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 The best way to deal with warped ply is to not deal with it at all. Try to plan your trips to the lumber yard so that your sheets can go from truck right to the saw. Don 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Marc has a video early in his series where he describes his plywood storage system... It involved (it has since evolved) a home-made rack of material similar to 2x4 construction grade lumber with a series of veneer presses, which will compress everything against the assembled framework. For a smaller lot of plywood (storing a couple sheets only), I'd consider this option if you need to store the plywood for a period of time not to exceed a month or two. The best option I've heard is the short-term option dwacker recommends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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