How long does it take to restock? Its frustrating because our unit is a school unit and we can only purchase from certain vendors, and glowforge is one of them…
Anyone know where I can get safe draftboard / MFD or plywood, birch etc. I need like 1/8".
Needs to be a fairly common name. I tried Blick, couldnt find what I needed…
Michaels has a lot of stuff on its website that is not in the stores especially bulk products,
Thats almost perfect, but pricey…I have about 160 students, and we do more projects with laser. I doubt I will find anything cheaper though, so this is a good option.
Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc…
if you’re allowed to buy from Amazon, there are a number of sources for wood there. here are baltic birch, 12x20 1/8" sheets from woodpecker. $50 for 20 sheets shipped, so $2.50/sheet. the negative compared to PG is that they’re not masked, but you can mask them yourselves or, depending on what you’re making, sand afterward or just paint over.
I get a lot of my stuff from either GF or Woodpeckers. But if I need it same day Home Depot or Lowes…
I used Home Depot, Only snag is you will need to wait about 5-7days for delivery. I really like their product.
I don’t really trust the product quality from Amazon. I purchased some and when it arrived I took one look and put it in my garage. So you take a risk in quality.
If you include your school information I would expect that you could get a sizable price break. Revell has shown itself to be very reliable (if a bit pricey). Many Hobby and hardware stores carry Revell products and they are generally of high quality, but I would avoid their mahogany as I have had it burn too easily.
I am not sure if Amazon is a registered shop as it is more tent for thousands of others.
Unless you can get Columbia Forest products from Home Depot or Lowes the results can be variable. Some can be fine and some can be laser-proof.
Thats what I was using, cant purchase from Amazon at schools. Educational vendors suck…lol.
that’s a bummer.
what kind of options do you have for vendors? it would be easier to make suggestions if we understood the limitations more?
I’d try Lowe’s or Home Depot. You can get a 4’ x 8’ sheet. They can cut it down to whatever size you want. If you have a wood shop in your school, they could also cut it down, or do it yourself. Big sheets will save you lots.
i think the issue with suggesting lowes or HD without specific wood suggestions is that there’s a lot you can buy at HD/Lowes that doesn’t cut well or consistently.
columbia forest wood, which you can order online and pick up or have delivered works well, but a lot of what you would buy in store can often have voids or bad spots inside the veneer on plywood that cause issues with cutting consistency. and the MDF can be different based on where you are in the country or vendors can change. big box stores aren’t always the best options.
Revolution plywood from Lowe’s has always worked well for me. I tend to have my setting on a slower speed with higher power to ensure a full cut.
Blick Art, Home Depot, Michaels, Glowforge, Lowes. The problem is my number of students, I have like 400 students, so finding a low price AND quality is hard, esp 1/8"!
what if you put an alert out to the parents?
you might find a parent that has some “connections” so to speak.
billy’s dad works for a cabinet company or some such and can get wholesale pricing .
Definitely a vote for the Columbia Forest materials from Home Depot. They sell it online in GF-friendly sizes, it looks pretty, and it has a formaldehyde-free MDF core (just like GF ply), so it should be a reasonably safe alternative.
Alternatively, find a local plywood supplier and try to get them approved as a supplier for the school. They may be willing to give a discount (or just even free cutting) both for volume and for the educational environment.
i would definitely suggest looking at the columbia forest products. won’t be 1/8, but 5/32 is very close. you can also get 1/4". the 5/32 maple is $33/box of 10 sheets, so $3.36 a sheet (plus tax).
Revolution Plywood is great for some things but the one “good” side is extremely thin. It is perhaps the lowest priced wood you can get.
I use Inventables a lot.