7 Laser Plywood Suppliers COMPARED 

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don't forget to also mention that these plywoods are bought in lots, which may be seasonal. and that each store might have 3-4 suppliers which change from time to time and even differ from store to store, region to region.

It’s interesting that you found so many issues with the Home Depot plywoods. I have cut thousands of these panels and only had a couple with defects, veneer wrinkles. Yes some are warped but warping can happen to the best woods. Temperature, shipping, storage all impact this issue. Great information about the options.

I get my materials from Makerstock. I placed an order with them, and when it arrived I realized they are located a 1/2 hour from where I live. I contacted their customer service and found out that I can pick up my orders. It obviously saves the cost of shipping & that cost on returns although I haven’t had an issue with having to return anything. Actually, I can quickly go through my order before leaving and exchange any pieces right on the spot. Since my 2nd order, I have been picking my orders up in person. Also, while the company is not family run, it is a small group of makers who started/run the business. I’m kind of lucky like that, but if there are any other makers in NE Pennsylvania, Makerstock is located between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton in Old Forge.

We cut Makerstock at work, so I’ve seen hundreds of panels personally and we’ve cut in the low thousands over the last 4 years. Here’s what I’ve seen, and their discounts: Surface finish is usually pretty good. There’s sawdust on the surface out of the package, so they are doing something to smooth it out before shipping The sizes are SPOT ON. The edges are smooth and always fit perfectly on our laser Some bad things, and why I’m watching videos like this: Warping can be BAD. Our extraction works as a vacuum table, so most can be held down but we’re talking .5-1” across a 20x30 panel. Climate is Southern California for reference, humidity between 60-80 at least in the summer. Knots and inclusions are ruining up to 20% of a panel about 15% of the time. This can be solved with another pass, but sometimes requires 3+ passes. The thickness varies WILDLY. We have had 2.8mm all the way up to 3.2mm between shipments. Building on the last bit, they definitely have more than 1 source since the smoke deposition will change between orders. Sometimes it’s pretty fine, sometimes it gunks up the extraction vent very quickly. We recently tried out a local lumber yard for wood and while it is cheaper, we had just as many inclusions and the surface finish was worse. I dont have a lot to compare to yet, but if you reply to this comment in a while, I’ll update :)

Ocooch I have ordered from and had issues they sent me out a whole new pack of the wood I had issue with. No questions asked. Just a FYI.

thank you

Very relevant to my current interests since I just bought a stack from one of the online shops you mentioned here and was warped to high hell 😂.

Can you use a heat press for shirts to help get warps out?

Great analysis. Did you compare the soot? I have bought some where the glue used was so bad that cleanup took an extraordinary amount of time and effort.

Makerstock has higher shipping fees than most of the others. I ordered 15 sheets of 15x20 (probably not correct lol) and it was $61 for shipping to Jacksonville, Fl.

You had mentioned you would be sending out the spreadsheet to members who signed up, i signed up for that but never got the spreadsheet link could you provide that please.

have you tried TEMU ? long shipping time but not bad quality

So I do like the video and comparison. But your price per sq ft is not fair/a good representation. Because of the minimum orders ranging from 1-10 and shipping normally doesn't go up much for more. Not saying you should of bought 10 of each, just load up your cart at pieces shipped to your door prices to be fair. Also in this comparison I will throw out most home depots have panels like as in they chop down 4ft x 8ft sheets for free and that will really drop your price per sq ft. And getting to pick your own not warped and what color/grain you want

It appears that you were inconsistent on your inclusion of shipping thus skewing the results. You have maker stock at $3 which is actually 10 pieces at $15.00 plus $15.08 so average $3.18 you can buy 1 at $1.50 but shipping is $15.08, you list $3. However with ocooch you have 1 piece at $1.44 and shipping of $6.89 , but 10 pieces are $14.40 plus $7.11 shipping so average $2.15, you list it $8.33. These numbers include shipping to your zip code.

1. You need to be less vague about "Birch Plywood" as domestic is not nearly the same quality as Baltic Birch adding more confusion to new users. Baltic doesnt get voids, uses even 1mm alternating veneers, and urea glue (though 4x8 Baltic is marine grade and uses phenolic glue wish isnt laser friendly, so avoid) Domestic birch (and most other plywoods ) use paper thin veneer and cheap soft core materials. You cant compare baltic to anytning else. 2. All thin wood, be it plywood or hardwoods, are likely to warp to some extent. How they were stored, how they will be strored, acclimation to humidity and temps of your shop. 3. There is no comparison vs purchases through local wood suppliers. 5x5 sheets of baltic birch are 22-30/sheet. B/BB grade. To finish, most cheap wood online is cost prohibitive as shipping makes the price per sq/ft 2-3x higher. If you're gonna find stuff online, look for MDF core as it's flatter and cuts better, no voids. The soft core like poplar isnt great. If you cant tell im pretty passionate about this lol, and have some exotic plywood testing being done with the help of a local manufacturer to bring some new variety to the crafting world as 3mm ply is the least common. There are also a few other online suppliers like G2S who offer pre-finished baltic birch for good prices and often run sales on it.