Lowes Blondewood-What is it and is it any good?

[dj_oatmeal]

I was just in the local Lowes looking for wood to make my Full Range Reference boxes out of and came across something called "Blondewood". It is 3/4" thick 4x8 panel for $36.95. It is very light in color and has a fine grain. The only other thing the tag said was it was hardwood. The piece I counted had 12 plys in it. The entire stack had void free edges and they looked very flat and had a very nice smooth finish on the face. The birch ply they had was full of voids on the edges so I lost interest.

Does anyone know what Blondewood is and have you worked with it?

[Taperwood]

Who knows. I doubt the floor monkeys at Lowes would know. If I had to guess, I would say some fast-growing tropical hardwood. If it were Birch, they would advertise that. The price is fine. Can you tell if the inner plys are the same specie? That's what sets the Baltic, Finnish, and Russian Birch's apart; they're all Birch.

Don't assume it's void-free just because the edges don't show any. Even the Birch's can have voids unless you specify void-free.

I'm sure it would be fine to use. My local 3/4 5x5 Birch is $32-34, so you get an extra 7 sq ft for only a few $ more.

Doug

[anonymouse]

Blondewood is a trade name used in most home centers to designate a price point utility panel hardwood plywood panel.

So basically its a crapshoot as to what species it actually is.

[dj_oatmeal]

Thanks for the input so far. I can't tell if it is the same material all the way through but it looks like it. My main concern is if I try it and hit it with a router and it delaminates it will have been a waste of money and time. I might be better off paying more for better wood but i've not been able to find true baltic birch locally in anything thicker than 1/4". All of the thicker birch i've found is from Lowes/Home Despot and it looks like junk to me.