Warped plywood

[sempai]

Boy, you can tell I'm new!!! Bought plywood for garage cabinet project several days ago. Had some very damp days here and not knowing any better, had them standing one edge in garage. Now, you know the result. Any way to get some of the curvature out??? Otherwise, I now have "around the corner" cabinets.

Thanks

Fred

[GaryMc]

Such wood behavior has happened to many of us at one time or another. As Mark suggested in a related post here, try letting them acclimate with equal air space on both sides and see what happens. May help to support the sheets so gravity tends to relieve the warp instead of making it worse, as they are drying out. A lot of construction-grade plywoods (and often some of the better grades) are not very stable against warpage, and you may need to factor that into the cabinet design (narrower or shorter panels, use of backer strips or face frames, etc.).

[Sempai]

Thanks for speedy reply Gary--I have laid the thin plywood out on my porch with spacers and hope that will elevate some of the warp. We've had several days of extreme humidity here in Fla. and should have known better.

Fred

[John of Conover, NC]

I'm new to all of this too. My question is, if the warp isn't all that bad can you go ahead and cut it to rough size for your project and lay them out to get the warp out. I have a sheet in the garage on its side and it has a slight bow to it. It's not so bad I can't correct it during assembly, but I'm just trying to learn. Any more input would be great.

John

[Lou_williams]

Low end plywood, (three ply) is known to warp easy. Slight warping is normal in this kind of ply. By sound joinery and assembly methods will remove the majority of the warp. But this is one of the reasons that Melemene and MDF is being used more and more for this kind of application.

The more expensive (5 to 7 laryer) Ply are very stable. The best is the "Baltic Birch" type. It is also call cabinet grade. I use it mostly for drawer bottoms.

Lou

[Sempai]

Thanks for the insight Lou--that's just what I have, 1/4 3ply plywood and the dampness got to it. In past two days, most of curvature out due to proper stacking and am proceeding with assembly, which will take some more bend out of it.

Really love this site--ya'll are so knowledgeable and willing to share ideas-----it's helpful for us newbies.

Fred