I personally did countless built-ins using lowes 3/4" plywood. Never realized there was an issue. We had them painted and stained and painted. We spent 4k overall just in this house alone.

Kreg jig - why? Elbow grease and air nailer.

> The problem is that it's splitting/chipping horribly

Get a setup so it does not chip/split. Part of your DIY learning how to cut/crosscut without splitting/chipping. Practice makes it perfect.

Smart layout, avoid crosscut as the rule or make it where it is less visible, use good saw blade, pad underneath of your saw, buy a rail system that makes it a tract saw, If still chipped a little - use a plainer or router. Cover up with rails and styles.

The salesman at Lowe's told me it's because the wood is too light

I don't know what that means so I wouldn't put much stock in what the salesman says.

Try putting a line of masking tape down the line where you need to drill the shelf pin holes and drill through the masking tape. That should help to minimize splintering.

Other tips at this link:

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Boring_Clean_Shelf_Holes.html

As to the tear out on the pocket holes, you locate the pocket holes in places where they aren't seen, so I wouldn't worry so much about that. A new sharp drill bit might help as well as drilling slower, and following some of the other advice given at the link.

You should be able to buy melamine coated particle board predrilled uprights and matching shelf stock.

Try the Pro desk for ordering better plywood.

One other thing...if you have any custom cabinet shops, you might go round and ask them where they source their material.

You should be able to buy melamine coated particle board predrilled uprights and matching shelf stock.

IMHO... That melamine chips like crazy with a bad setup. Melamine and Kreg Jig is a very bad combination. Every pocket hole will chip much more than 3/4 ply

This is great info! Thank you everyone. As far as the Kreg jig, we're new at this and it sounded like a good idea. BT, what's a good setup to try? My husband has a sturdy workbench but beyond that we've just got the tools and have been clamping and drilling right there on the bench. He's using the table saw and the circular saw to make cuts... how would you put a pad under that? Sorry for all the questions but we really are new to this. Everyone's input is so helpful!!

They sky is the limit as far as spending: Festool products are awesome if you are pro carpenter or the drug dealer. You need $1400 to afford it.

For the rest of us cheap tract saw kits like Kreg, etc with a good blade like 80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdHEmfpkCP0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDc5lGq1ghs

or build your own

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtlxOQrXhEo

Some are able to just blue painter tape to avoid chipping. Never worked for me. A tract saw works every time. I bought from lowes box of ugly bruce 3/4" flooring for $10 and used the finished flooring as a guide with Makita saw. LOL

BT, I'm confused. The links with the track saw/makeshift/Kreg jig are for what, specifically? I'm confused about how this would be better than using a table saw to cut the wood?

^^Hand held saws are nice for breaking down plywood into manageable pieces to take to the table saw. Most likely, posters assumed that since you are new to DIY, that you didn't have a table saw.

Are you having problems with your cuts? I thought the splintering issue was mainly with drilling holes...

If the problems are with cuts, make sure that you are using a saw blade designated for 'plywood'. On the table saw, cut with the finished side facing up. With a skilsaw, make cuts with the finished side facing down. Still having problems, then score the cut line using a straight edge and a utility knife (fresh sharp blade.) (Adjust the blade cutting height/ depth---you want to saw blade to clear the cut by about the depth of one tooth on the blade.)

Usually, just masking tape over the cut line works good enough for me. NOT blue painter's tape. Just the basic light colored original masking tape. Lots cheaper than painter's tape, has better 'tack' and the light color makes it easier to see your marks. IME using blue tape, the process of cutting often/ usually lifts the tape away from the wood ahead of the cut, rendering it just about useless.

For crosscuts w/ a hand held power saw (skilsaw), you may need to both tape and score. Scoring cuts the top layer of fibers and will yield a cleaner cut.

'Pad under the saw' refers to using a sheet of sacrificial styrofoam insulation under whatever you are cutting. This 'backs up' your cut and will help minimize tear out on whatever you are cutting. (Styrofoam laid out on a large table, cut through the wood & into the styrofoam.)

I assume that the shelving will be painted? Dap's DryDex spackling compound is the best spackle that I've used. Dries fast, minimal shrink, easy sand, goes on pink, dries white. Light years better than some of the old spackles that I've used in the past.

Where in the world can there be a Lowes and HD but no lumberyard? Seems _really_ unlikely. You might need to find an old paper yellow pages to locate the local lumber yards, but I'll bet they are there.

Tearout is typically more an issue of having sharp enough tools and technique than the wood per se, though others have given you good tips. A good plywood blade for a table saw or track saw is going to run $75-200 depending on size. A zero clearance insert for your table saw can make a big difference. For drilling you want to be sure to have a backer board so your drill doesn't exit into space, supporting the wood around the exit hole is critical.

Construction methods that hide the rough edges also help a lot.

You need a fine finish saw blade too. Not the general purpose blade that came with the saw.

WOW, everyone. This is so helpful! Can't thank you all enough. SO grateful for all of you and for Houzz putting up this forum. Rwiegand, I will start searching harder for the lumber yards b/c what you're saying makes sense. Thanks.

"Blond" wood? another name for big box softwood plywood. No cabinetmaker I know uses this.

Anyhow, once installed sand if needed & caulk.

Prior to MDF, there was particle board, before that was 1x12 pine which is still available, still strong. The tradeoff vs laminate is your labor & paint.

Jeffrey R. Grenz, what do they/you use?

Our closets were constructed with maple finished plywood - looks great. Similar to this: Maple finished plywood

Prior to MDF, there was particle board, before that was 1x12 pine which is still available, still strong.

Agreed.

My husband is a hobby woodworker, and uses HD's solid pine stuff for convenience and quick/inexpensive projects (1x6; 1x8, 1x12; 2xWhatever, lol). He's gonna redo the builder-grade shelving in the pantry with stained pine.

Clt3, that's gorgeous and looks very similar to what we bought. That wood is a hardwood though and I've been reading that hardwood is more difficult to work with than the softwood if you're a DIYer. Less forgiving. Do you know if that's true? Thanks. One Devoted Dame, the pantry is on our list too---if we can ever get the closet right! LOL.

connerhm the maple finished plywood is probably not as hard as an actual solid piece of maple. It's only got a thin layer of maple. I have worked with solid maple(ambrosia maple) and that stuff is hard but I didn't find working with it to be any more difficult then working with pine or the white wood stuff from Lowes. We sued the ambrosia maple for tabletops and desk tops. I actually preferred working with the harder wood. It didn't chip or splinter like softer woods. I have never worked with the maple finished plywood.

Ok, that's great info to know! Thank you!

Look at Diablo saw blades. We changed out blades on our table saw, circular saw and miter saw with this brand of blade. They are much better than the ones that come with the saws.

Maybe this will help with your cuts:

https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tips/techniques/sawing-solutions/pointers-for-perfect-plywood-cuts