All about furniture plywood

The constant desire of people to update the interior and follow fashion trends makes manufacturers constantly search for new ideas and release updated and improved furniture. For the implementation of all projects in the world, the demand for timber extraction is increasing annually, which has a negative impact on the overall environmental situation, and the cost of furniture made of natural wood is often too expensive for many buyers. To solve this problem, specialists have developed an improved building material - plywood, which not only has a universal purpose, wide assortment and attractive appearance, but also an affordable price range.

Furniture plywood is a versatile building material made from natural wood raw materials and has several layers.

Experts recommend paying attention to the advantages of furniture plywood:

• environmental Safety;
• low price range;
• lack of dimensional fluctuations with unstable humidity;
• ease of use, maintenance and restoration;
• wide range of sizes;
• light weight;
• flexibility;
• high level of strength;
• the possibility of self-production of furniture.

We should not forget about the disadvantages:

• the presence of unaesthetic layered layers;
• the inability to use some finishing materials;
• the complexity of the repair work;
• low level of resistance to constant mechanical stress.

When buying this building material, it is imperative to pay attention to the adhesives used.

The basic raw material for plywood is rotary cut veneer, which is manufactured using the following technology:

• steaming wood;
• processing (peeling) of the material on a special machine;
• straightening and drying the workpiece;
• final pressing and gluing of veneer sheets.

Thanks to the use of this technology, finished multilayer sheets have a high level of strength and low weight. Manufacturers use the following tree species as a base material: coniferous, deciduous.

• Conifers - demanded wood, which is used both for the manufacture of furniture and for construction. Advantages - resistance to moisture, saturation with natural resins, the ability not to use impregnation, high antiseptic performance. The disadvantage is a low level of strength, the presence of resinous precipitates when heated.

• Deciduous - wood that is rarely found on the market. The most common is birch veneer, but alder, poplar, maple or aspen can be purchased. Advantages - a high level of strength, resistance to mechanical damage. The disadvantage is the high price range, the lack of natural resin protection, the need for mandatory treatment with protective compounds, low resistance to moisture, the complexity of manufacturing and impregnation.

On sale you can see different plywood, which differs in the following parameters:

• variety;
• view;
• basic material;
• type of impregnation.

Features of plywood depending on the grade:

• the highest - high-quality material, which is completely free of external defects;
• the first is plywood, which on the front side may have small cracks and darkening no more than 20 mm in size;
• the second - sheets in which the presence of leakage of the adhesive composition, as well as the presence of foreign inclusions, is permissible, the permissible amount of rejects should not exceed 2 percent of the total area, and the length of one crack should not be more than 25 cm;
• the third is plywood, on the surface of which black dots with a diameter of up to 5 mm can be found;
• the fourth is a material of very low quality, on the surface of which you can see wormholes, depressions and bumps, as well as the edge of the sheet may have chips and deformed areas, this material is very rarely used in the manufacture of furniture.

Depending on the type of plywood, there are the following categories:

• FOF - moisture resistant material, the surface of which is covered with a decorative colored polyvinyl chloride film;
• FSF - high-quality material, which has a non-laminated surface and a high level of resistance to moisture, the advantage is a wide range of applications, the disadvantage is the presence of formaldehyde in the adhesives;
• FC - birch veneer, the sheets of which are glued together using urea and formaldehyde compounds;
• FBS - high-quality plywood, which is treated with bakelite-based varnish and has an improved physical and chemical composition, advantages - a high level of resistance to moisture and temperature fluctuations.

Advantages - a high level of strength and resistance to moisture, high aesthetic performance, affordable price range, ease of maintenance and restoration.

Bent wood - an interesting material from which unusual furniture with an original structure is made. Advantages - the creation of any forms, the ability to combine with different building materials, the admissibility of operation both indoors and outdoors.

Depending on the level of processing, plywood can be of the following types:

• unpolished;
• one-sided polished;
• double-sided polished.

Advantages - low specific gravity, the presence of a smooth fibrous surface, no voids, ease of processing.

Manufacturers make and supply to retail outlets a wide range of plywood sheets for furniture, which have different technical characteristics. Experts, first of all, recommend paying attention to the thickness of the material, which has a fairly wide range: from 3 mm to 30 mm. The thickness of the product directly depends on the number of pressed layers, which affect the strength of the material. Novice craftsmen should remember the following dependence of the nominal thickness on the ply level:

• 3-4 mm - 3;
• 6 mm - 5;
• 9 mm - 7;
• 12 mm - 9;
• 15 mm - 11;
• 18 mm - 13;
• 21 mm - 15;
• 24 mm - 17;
• 27 mm - 19;
• 30 mm - 21.

The number of layers may vary depending on the type of wood used.

A wide range of furniture plywood often complicates its selection. Professional craftsmen recommend paying special attention to this particular process, on which the final result and product quality subsequently depend. In order to choose the best plywood for furniture, first of all, you need to pay attention to its brand, grade and thickness. These parameters directly depend on the functional purpose of the building material.

To purchase a quality product, experts recommend paying attention to the following parameters when buying it:

• the presence of straight and homogeneous inner layers;
• lack of overlaps and passes.

Ignoring these recommendations will subsequently not only affect the appearance of the product, but also create difficulties in the process of cutting and subsequent finishing.

The selected sheets must be perfectly flat, otherwise even the slightest distortions during the assembly process cannot be corrected, which will ruin the appearance of the furniture and affect its functionality.

Before buying plywood, it is imperative to understand what type of furniture will be made of it. It is best to create garden items from waterproof material, but the thickness of sheets for home furniture should be at least 1.5 cm.

Furniture is an obligatory attribute of any living space, on which the comfort in it depends.... In order to create a unique design, it is not necessary to purchase expensive interior items. Professional designers recommend paying attention to plywood products, which are distinguished by an affordable price range, aesthetic appearance and ease of use. However, when choosing products, you should follow all the recommendations of specialists and be sure to check for quality certificates.

What is the difference: chipboard, MDF, plywood, furniture board, lumber and veneer, see below.