Work with Agathis?

[steve-norrell]

The local Borg is selling Agathis faced plywood for a few bucks less than Birch faced ply. According to a Google search its from Australia and New Zealand and has been used for furniture, ship building and wood paneling. The pieces look pretty good, at least as good as the birch.

I want to use it for bookcases and cabinets that will be painted. If anyone has worked with it I would appreciate your evaluation of it.

Thanks, Steve

[TB Roye]

I saw a pallett of Agathis at my local BORG but the top 3 or 4 pieces were bowed/warped and I didn't feel like sorting through a stack of 3/4" plywood looking for a few good pieces.

Tom

[steve-norrell]

The sheets I looked at in the local Borg were flat and without any sign of edge damage or delamination. As I said, much nicer than the birch I saw at the same store. Also, the surface veneer on the birch is impossibly thin but I could not see how thick it was on the Agathis. I'll go back and check today.

The surface grain also looks much better than the Borg's birch, with a nice straight grain that is almost completely free of knots.

Also, as noted, I want to use it for built-in cabinets and book shelves that will be painted. So . . . if anyone has any experience with this stuff, I would appreciate hearing about it.

Regards, Steve

[unclecritic]

Just curious, when you look at it again, can you see what the actual dimension is? 29/32 or whatever?

I just built a cabinet/entertainment center using their birch and breathing on the veneer made it go away Luckily it was a painted piece...

[steve-norrell]

Just curious, when you look at it again, can you see what the actual dimension is? 29/32 or whatever?

I just built a cabinet/entertainment center using their birch and breathing on the veneer made it go away Luckily it was a painted piece...

The stated thickness is 18 mm. Pretty close to 22/32 (if my math is correct). Steve

[unclecritic]

29/32 or whatever?

Phew...29? I guess 5 out of 4 really dont know fractions...lol

[steve-norrell]

Agathis Report #2:

I picked up a sheet this morning. This report applies only to the sheet that I bought and may or may not reflect samples from other Borgs or sources.

The first two sheets showed some warpage and we had to go down two sheets down to find one that was as flat as my eyes could see. The grain of the veneer was nice, straight, and clear, with few, if any blemishes or knot holes, but that's consistent with the nature of Agathis (according to a Google search).

After cutting the sheet into at least nine separate pieces I noticed only a few (very few) voids, There are 11 plies, not counting the surface ones. So far, the cut pieces have remained flat.

The downside is that the Agathis veneer is as thin (paper thin) as the birch veneer and one would have to be very careful when sanding.

Overall impression: Its worth a look, being careful about the usual issues when buying from a box store.

Regards, Steve

[rnelson0]

So, I still haven't gotten the lingo down on this board. Which one is "the Borg"?

[LinuxRandal]

So, I still haven't gotten the lingo down on this board. Which one is "the Borg"?

Traditionally Big Orange Retail Giant, is home depot
Blue Borg, is Lowe's, otherwise sometimes called Blowes

But could be either. The first one is probably at least 90% of the use here.

[steve-norrell]

So, I still haven't gotten the lingo down on this board. Which one is "the Borg"?

In my comments "the Borg" is Home Depot. I surmised that from seeing it used quite widely on this site. Perhaps I am wrong. If so, I apologize for the confusion.

In any case, the Agathis plywood was found at Home Depot.

Regards, Steve

[gearbuilder]

Borg

All this time I thought Borg was a store that we don't have around here. I am still learning something every day.
Jamie