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Forest1 Red Oak Plywood panels edge banding

I would like to know if you can get edge banding for the Forest1 Red Oak Plywood Panels, maybe on special order?. I was meant to get a call from Shawne (Lifestyles co-ord Craigieburn Warehouse) in regard to this. That was 10th December 2021 so I'm not holding out

much hope.

My other question is can you get any larger Forest1 Red Oak Plywood Panels other than the largest ones you stock in store which

is (1200x800)?.

Sam

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EricL

Hello @PeakyBlinder71 (Sam)

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's great to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about getting edge banding for Red Oak Plywood Panels.

I'm sorry to hear that the Craigieburn store has not gotten back to you. I'll have to speak to our providers and make a few inquiries for you. As soon as I have more information, I'll get back to you.

Are you planning on building furniture with it? Red Oak Plywood is engineered for a high-grade finish so if the sides are sanded properly you can get a very beautiful edge finish on it. Any updates on your plans with the timber would be much appreciated.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to post them.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/17714#Comment_17714

Good Evening Eric,

Thanks for your reply and for any support you can offer me. My immediate projects are storage cabinets for my workshop as I have none. After that,

lots of furniture pieces. When I get time I'll upload a few of my Plans from Sketchup.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/71488#Comment_71488

Looking forward to seeing your plans @PeakyBlinder71. I'm sure Eric will get back to you as soon as possible.

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We trust you will get loads of helpful advice and inspiration from our wonderful community members. Please don't hesitate to post whenever you have a project to share or need a hand.

Jason

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/71488#Comment_71488

Hello @PeakyBlinder71 (Sam)

I've just spoken to our supplier and I'm sorry, but the Red Oak plywood sheets don't come any bigger than the ones the store carries. After a lot of searching with the help of my colleague, the closest iron on edging we could find is 21mm x 5m Melamine Edging Natural Wood. This is a close match, I suggest having a look for yourself at the store so you can decide. Another option to consider is to use Tasmanian Oak - Porta Range. Its colour and finish again are very close to the Red Oak. The only other idea that came to mind was to cut a strip of the Red Oak and use that as the timber edging.

If we were to step outside of convention for a moment, have you considered edging it with a contrasting timber like pine? This particular look will provide a nice highlight to your storage cabinets or perhaps go in the opposite direction with dark timber. Another option of course is doing a light stain on the timber so that any timber edging you put will at least be in the same tone as the Red Oak.

Let me tag our experienced members @tom_builds and @JoeAzza for their recommendations.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to the start of your cabinet project.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/99024#Comment_99024

Hi Folks,

Firstly thanks for all your replies, much appreciated!. Having done abit of research myself I've found a company here in Melbourne who apparently is

or was a supplier for Bunnings. They have some edge banding which I'm looking at today which by all accounts looks like an exact match for the

Red Oak Plywood. I will endeavor to keep everyone posted on this with photo's of my findings.

Just for everyones information Red Oak is apparently a lighter wood than White oak despite the name!, both share similar figuring.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/116302#Comment_116302

Hi @PeakyBlinder71

Thank you so much for the update and it's great that you've found a banded edge that matches. If you have any other questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to post them.

Please keep us posted with your progress, we look forward to seeing the start of your storage project.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/126177#Comment_126177

I can't figure out whats going on here. I've sanded the board usng 600 grit sand paper, applied one coat of oil based gloss varnish (F&W). As you can see it looks awful, like the varnish is sinking in on the raised gran but not on the lower?. Please can someone give some advice.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/132777#Comment_132777

Hi @PeakyBlinder71,

It might be a bit hard for us to identify the issue via images. Could you take another picture with a side-by-side comparison of one piece you've varnished and another you haven't? That might better illustrate what's going on. Is it the light versus darker grain from the tree rings that you're concerned about?

A common issue with stains and varnishes not absorbing into timber grain is sanding too finely, and 600grit would be on the finer side. Many would stop around 240grit when the timber starts to become smooth, and most wouldn't ever go past 320grit. Are you experiencing this same issue on a piece of timber that you haven't sanded to 600grit?

Nothing particularly "awful" jumps out at me, just some lovely grain highlighted by the varnish, but I do look forward to hearing more about the problem and assisting with a solution.

Mitchell

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136835#Comment_136835

I've done some experiments.

Both boards have been sanded to 600 grit, one on the left I used undiluted Feast & Watson clear varnish, as you can see its not sunk into the full grain correctly and looks crap. One on the left I diluted with 75% Turps and applied two coats and looks better. I beg to differ with the sand paper, were talking about a very thin 0.4mm veneer, anything like 240 will cut right through to the veneer quite easily.

I think I will be going the shellac route as its easier to manipulate the viscosity, F&W clear varnish is just way too thick to penetrate the wood fibers

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/139608#Comment_139608

Sounds like a plan, @PeakyBlinder71.

To clarify, my intention was not for you to use aggressive sandpaper on a veneer, as I agree it would rip through it. I was merely pointing out that sanding with fine-grit sandpaper can occasionally prevent products from penetrating timber surfaces. The ultrafine wood dust enters the pores and blocks them. It also sands away all the fibrous material, which would otherwise wick the product into the timber.

Varnishes sit on top of the surface of the timber, and un-like oils are not designed to penetrate. However, you seem to be experiencing an issue with how readily the timber accepts the varnish. Filling all the grain could help solve the problem and allow you to get an extremely uniform finish. Feast Watson 1L Sanding Sealer would be a suitable product for this.

Let me mention some of our woodworking enthusiasts @r23on, @WoodenGregsWood, @woodalwaysworks, @kel and @Razzer to see if they have any thoughts or suggestions.

Mitchell

r23on

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/141504#Comment_141504

It is has been proven time and time again that when sanding timber to such a fine grin will cause stains, varnish etc to pool on the surface causing the same situation as has happened here the other issue that comes to mind is this timber an oily timber which also cause the same sort of situation hence a sanding sealer applied to the surface followed by a light sand. If I'm not mistaken painters are taught not to go any heigh in grit than 240 / 320 for the above reason

Before I seal a finished surface I clean it with metho hence removes fine partials of sanding dust and no water residue left in the timber. I have used this method on my woodturning where I need the highest finish, grit Ie 15000 but I do not use varnish for any finish

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/142922#Comment_142922

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I've done pretty much what has been suggested however the problem still remains. I have Uploaded a video on Youtube which

hopefully demonstrates the problem more clearly.

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/142922#Comment_142922

I think the veneer is so thin that the underlying ply and glue is showing through and contrasting with the red oak veneer .I have to say I'm leaning towards taking the dozen or so boards of this stuff back to bunnings for a refund and buying higher grade veneered plywood.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/143913#Comment_143913

Hello @PeakyBlinder71

I'm sorry to hear that the Feast Watson has not been working out for you. I recommend bringing the timber piece to your store's senior paint specialist. I suggest explaining to them how you sanded the piece and the effect the oil gloss finish had on the timber. Have you tried painting a piece without sanding it? If you get the same effect we can at least rule out that sanding is the cause. Have you tried a water-based gloss finish? Perhaps it will behave differently than the oil-based gloss. Have you explored the option of perhaps using a stain and varnish?

Once you've ruled out those avenues and the paint specialist can't offer any other recommendations, then you'll have no choice but to exchange the Red Oak for something else. Please let me know if you need assistance with the exchange.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing you get a good finish on your storage cabinets.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/144685#Comment_144685

I've tried Cabots water based polyurethane gloss without sanding with the same effect. I don't wish to stain them in any way so no option there. I don't wish to exchange the boards for anything else either, If someone at the Craigieburn store thinks that I'm in someway prepping or applying the finishes incorrectly then they are more than welcome to demonstrate that in front of me at the store, else I will be getting a full refund.

Just as a side note, I have brought full sheets of American oak veneered plywood from Timberwood and they have come up beautifully with only 2 coats of F&W varnish. I only decided to try the Red Oak because I liked the figuring and they were lighter in colour than the American oak.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/145248#Comment_145248

Hi @PeakyBlinder71

My sincerest apologies. I'm sorry none of my suggestions worked. I was only offering alternatives to possibly solve the finish on the Red Oak. Since you've tried out the suggestions I've laid out and you're getting the same results, you're most welcome to bring the timber back to the store for a refund. Please let us know if you need assistance with the refund.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/145697#Comment_145697

Thanks Eric. Much appreciated.

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/145697#Comment_145697

Hi Eric

I have some good news. Not one to be defeated I did a little testing of my own and found that from the dozen boards I brought, there are 3 with some sort of manufacturing defect. It just so happens that the board I choose to start putting finish on was one of them!. From what I have gathered the defect is one of two things. Either the glue used has bled through to the top of the veneer or the veneer itself has a problem like not drying out properly and/or tannin issue.

Here is the result of 2 coats of Bleached Shellac / 1 coat of gloss varnish:

This is the light honey colour I was after with the beautiful grain just showing through. Obviously there's many different ways of finishing these boards but this is just one. To make the grain pop even more you can use thinner shellac which seals the grain less. No need to go to the trouble of using sanding sealer, unless you want a completely smooth board where you can't feel the grain to the touch. Initial sanding was 240, 400-600 after 2 coat of shellac.

@EricL I would strongly recommend sending this thread to Forest1 or at least raise an issue with them to find out their take on the problem. In the mean time I'll continue the cabinets and post my progress as I go. Thanks again for your help, patience and suggestions Eric and thanks to the other posters.

I just need to take the 3 defective boards back now 🙂

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/146034#Comment_146034

Hello @PeakyBlinder71

Thank you so much for the update. It's good to hear that you've discovered some of the boards are still good to use. It's amazing how you've gone through the testing and found that perfect honey colour finish you were after. I'll be sure to inform Forest1 about this post.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing storage cabinets assembled.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

PeakyBlinder71

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/146325#Comment_146325

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the reply & your support. The way I tested the veneer was quite simple really. A cabinet maker once told me, to see if a wood will take a

finish, "wet the surface" slightly with either water, turps or white spirits. In this case I used an old rag soaked in white spirit and went through every board veneer to make sure it darkened evenly and didn't leave any dry streaks in the grain, like the defective boards did.

The honey colour was thanks to sealing the wood first with two coats of shellac. F&W Gloss varnish on its own brings the grain out more and imparts

a rich golden colour - nice stuff!.

I really look forward to hearing what forest1 have to say, if they would like to speak to me directly I can message you my phone number to pass onto

them. I hope its a one off because these boards are actually very nice. I especially like the crown cut veneer patterns and most of the plywood

have a wide leaf, which makes for a less repetitive grain pattern.

Sam

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/146558#Comment_146558

Many thanks for your patience and working to find a solution Sam (@PeakyBlinder71). I'll be keen to hear Forest1's thoughts as well.

Please keep us updated on your project as I trust everyone will be keen to see the finished work. You've certainly put in the effort. 👍

Mitchell

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