OPEN: MON - FRI 8AM - 5PM
Current lead time for cut & edge orders is 9 - 11 working daysCOLLECTIONS: 8AM - 4PM
Current lead time for cut & edge orders is 9 - 11 working daysCOLLECTIONS: 8AM - 4PM
Although plywood dates back to the ancient Greek and Egyptian era, it wasn’t until the end of the 18th century that sailors saw plywood as a viable product for shipbuilding. Today, plywood is used in all types of products that serve different functions, but plywood cut to size specifically is used in furniture production and carpentry.
Manufacturers make plywood from softwoods (beech or pine) and hardwoods (birch, oak, teak or mahogany). Usually, plywood comes in large sheets and is cut to size for various applications such as furniture, housing construction and packaging. When it comes to furniture making and the woodworking industry, birch is a species that is widely used due to it beeing quite cost-effective, relatively hardwearing and having an attactive apparence thanks to its grain and colour.
Birch trees are the ultimate renewable resource, with virtually every part of the tree employed by many industries. We make brooms, and sauna whisks out of twigs, furniture and flooring out of timber. Plywood mills use waste and residue to make other materials and as boiler fuel for energy production. Back in the day, people used the bark in roofing, canoe building, and even the sap in winemaking!
Birch trees are abundant species found in the forests of the northern hemisphere and are widespread across Canada, Russia and most of Northern Europe, in particular countries bordering the Baltic. They are relatively fast-growing and support a myriad of different wildlife and, when managed as a sustainable forest resource, do not impinge on the natural biodiversity.
Birch plywood, when sustainably sourced, is definitely ‘The Natural Choice’.
Plywood is made by turning large, even logs and peeling off thin veneers, usually between 1.5 to 4mm in thickness. The veneers are glued one on top of the other, with the grains running perpendicular to create a sheet. This process is called laminating and creates a material more substantial than a solid piece of wood.
The industry grades birch plywood according to the face veneers' quality and not the core's.
We only sell two higher grades suitable for making furniture and clear-finishing. In comparison, the lower grades are mainly used for structural works and packaging.
We don't sell lower grades of Birch Plywood, but you may find the information useful. Despite the more inferior appearance, the core of lower grade plywood is still solid and sound.
Birch plywood is by far the most popular type of plywood thanks to its subtle grain and warm light colour that is easy on the eye and fits well in clean and minimalist interiors. Its cross-grain construction of several plies creates stripy-looking edges—a design feature unique to plywood.
Solid wood is one of the most sought-after materials for furniture making, but plywood is a close second. Given that plywood comes in large sheets, it becomes easy to work with, is a much more stable material than solid wood and is more readily available. It is also very pliable and can be bent and curved to create unique forms, which would be impossible in solid wood.
Plywood is made from natural wood but is not affected by some issues associated with solid wood, such as warping or splitting under certain conditions. When adequately treated, plywood can withstand natural elements far better than medium density fibreboard (MDF), another popular material used in furniture-making.
The strength-to-weight ratio for plywood is also far more significant than MDF or solid wood due to the plies bonded with strong adhesives at varying angles. Giving plywood this cross-grain structure provides an evenly-distributed weight-bearing strength that no other wood-based product and even solid wood can deliver.
The more plies a plywood board has, the stronger it is. Plywood can be strong enough to support a roof of a house.
Plywood edges, with their uniform and linear pattern creates a mesmerising effect on furniture.
Due to the lamination of the plies, plywood not only bends easily, but can maintain its strength through a curve.
Get inspired by one of the most popular design styles by integrating plywood features in your home.
At Cworkshop, we offer plywood cut-to-size service for professionals and DIY enthusiasts. We use Cutting Optimisation software to map out the cutting pattern for every job to eliminate time and material wastage. Advanced industrial-grade and computer-aided cutting machines, managed by professional operators, deliver unparalleled precision and accuracy. The machines use two saw blades, and in addition to the primary saw blade, a scoring blade is used to ensure that each cut is smooth and chip-free on both sides.
One of the features of plywood is the cross-section of the plies, and using our plywood cutting service, you'll find that your plywood edges won't contain any friction burns only requiring light sanding to get the edges smooth. We inspect the quality of all cut plywood panels to ensure a clean finish every time.
Here is some more information specific to our plywood cut to size service.
Select plywood for your project and start building a cutting list. Instant quotation and no account is required.
