Best source for thinner ply woods?

[Flying Monkey fab]

I'm just getting in and I'm looking fwd to the day I can start experimenting with my own designs but when I look at materials, plywood shoots up in price below 1/8".

Does anyone have a really good source for good quality plys that will be laser cuttable and won't break the bank?

thanx

 

[Hai-Lee]

The quantities of plywood used in FT models is quite minimal and as such the thickness has a minimal impact upon the overall weight.

Having said that I use quite a lot of plywood around 3mm thickness and in various grades.

I find that there is quite a lot of usable Ply abandoned or dumped in landfill every day. This includes packing crates and even demolition materials.

For items such as control horns I find that old square PVC ducting does a good job and a single Offcut from a building site can supply many months worth of material.

Nowadays dumping rubbish is an expensive business and the charges are by weight so with a little courage you will soon find that where the choice is between dumping material and paying for it or letting you have it free of charge the choice is a simple business decision and you could have more plywood than you could ever use.

My last ply "Acquisition" was about a year ago and I have enough good quality and virgin stock to last me another 2 years at my current rate of consumption,.

Just what works for me!

Have fun!

 

[thenated0g]

Think i remember Nerdnic buying office garbage cans and using the plastic as firewalls.

 

[Flying Monkey fab]

The quantities of plywood used in FT models is quite minimal and as such the thickness has a minimal impact upon the overall weight.

I'm not so worried about weight as much as there are just things that are better when thinner. I'll use 1/8 when I can as I have a life time supply of scrap from other projects.

 

[Tench745]

If you find yourself needing lots (I mean LOTS) of good thin plywood for something, Aircraft Spruce have good prices per square foot compared to hobby plywoods. a 1' square piece of 1/8" hobby ply costs about $5. A 1'x4' piece of 1/8" domestic birch aircraft ply is about $13, or $3.25/sqft. The savings on 3/32 and 1/16" are better. I only know this because I now have a lifetime supply of 1/16" scraps from my Jr Ace wing ribs. Speaking of which, would anyone be interested in some scraps?

 

[nerdnic]

Think i remember Nerdnic buying office garbage cans and using the plastic as firewalls.

Yes!

https://www.nerdnic.com/content/best-rc-airplane-firewall-diy

 

[thenated0g]

Yes!

https://www.nerdnic.com/content/best-rc-airplane-firewall-diy

Dont tell my wife that i can remember some random post from a couple years ago but not our wedding date lol