PLYWOOD

Q: Why Plywood?

A: Because it is an economical and readily available alternative to solid lumber.

Most people think of wooden furniture and cabinetry is being constructed out of SOLID lumber. Assume you wish to build a 3’ x 5’ desk out of solid walnut; that would require at least a 3 foot wide slab of lumber – old-growth trees used to yield such wide timbers but today’s, sustainable forests (new growth) yield narrower timbers which would need to be joined together (side-by-side) to create the desktop and side panels. Hence plywood.

Plywood is a more stable and a lot less expensive alternative to solid wood. Most cabinet and furniture makers will harmonize plywood with solid wood trimming to produce beautiful cabinetry and furniture.

MODERN PLYWOOD

After World War II and the advent of sophisticated synthetic glues, the process of pealing a log like an apple, into thin continuous sheets of wood or VENEERS and then laminating them together under heat and pressure, produced large sheets of plywood. Now these large, readily available, sheets can produce affordable furniture pieces made from real wood plywood yet look and feel like solid wood.

Image © Compliments of Saunders Wood Specialties, Inc.

HOW PLYWOOD IS MADE?

Plywood, the core of which is made by laminating together more abundant and cheaper species such as popular or fir, are then faced with veneers of rare and expensive hardwoods like walnut, cherry, maple, birch, etc. Plywood comes in many different thicknesses, grades and cuts (see our core, matching and slicing information). Most panels are available in sheets of 4’ x 8’ and occasionally in 4’ x 10’ sizes.

Anderson Plywood carries a huge variety of Hardwood Plywood Species in many different cuts, grades, thicknesses and sizes.