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Soft maple bent on me after 18 years, plywood would've been fine
Built a library bookcase out of soft maple back in 2007. Everyone said solid wood is the only way for shelves. Last month a customer called about sagging shelves, and sure enough they bowed a quarter inch in the middle. I checked the span and the load, it was within what I thought was safe. Now I'm redoing them with 3/4 inch birch ply and a solid edge band. Has anyone else had better long term luck with ply cores on wide spans than solid hardwood?
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casey_harris24d ago
Yeah I learned this one the hard way too. Soft maple just doesnt hold up like people think on wide spans, especially after a few seasons of humidity changes. Ive had better luck with ply for shelves over 30 inches, but you gotta use good ply, not the big box stuff with voids in the middle. The key is to make sure the face grain runs the long way and the edge band is glued solid, not just ironed on. I also started adding a subtle center support or a steel stiffener under the bottom shelf when customers want solid wood look. Saves me callbacks and honestly the ply stays flat way longer than most solid lumber, even oak or hard maple. Live and learn, but youll probably never do solid shelves that wide again once you switch.
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