Plywood

In my 9^th grade Washington State History class, I was stumped by the midterm test question “what makes plywood strong?”  I knew I knew the answer but could not remember it.  I wrote down “glue”.    The correct answer is that each layer is oriented to have the grain of each layer perpendicular to each other for thinner plywoods and budget grades.  Better grades and/or thicker are at multiples of 45° for thicker and better grades.   The best grades are at 30° rotation with 7 or more layers.  Multiple angles provide strength in more directions or axis of rotation.

I bought two sheets of plywood at Home Depot today.  Part of the store service is that they will cut them to order.  I had them make 4-5 pieces out of each sheet.  One large piece is to expand my computer table to have a little soldering area for my metalsmithing.  Another is to cover part of my dining table with a work surface so that I don’t ding up my oak dining table.  It was a used table when I bought and one of the chair seats is splitting, I will try to keep nice as long as possible.

Even better, I bought a finish grade piece with a small ding in it.  I had them cut around the ding and got 70% off for plywood cut to order.  That was a pleasant retail therapy bonus!

I plan to get a dresser and a small chest of drawers for tool storage.  My apartment living room never had a couch because they get in my way of my wheelchair in anything less than a giant living room and I don’t like couches that much.  My living room is well on its way to have a completely wooden perimeter.  Okay, there is like 2 feet to go to complete that process, but it will be a different wood than what I have now.  Presumably will involve more plywood.

I love wood and am grateful for the miracle strength of plywood, nice furniture and smooth table tops.  Thanks to the tech from Home Depot that cut the wood, he was great.  Lea was a big help in bringing the wood in and sliding it under all the PC paraphernalia on my computer desk.