Best plywood materials | Best Wood veneer materials

Plywood

Wikipedia meaning of plywood means thin layers of plies of wood skins that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another.

While the layers of plies are glued together pressure is applied to bind them together. This pressure could be applied hot or cold. In hot pressure process hydraulic press is employed to press and temperature may range from 150 o c to 260 o c. For cold press it could be pressed at room temperature only. Pressure applied for cold press may vary from 0.70 to 140 N/mm.

Plywood is available in different form and different thickness and size. Thickness available may vary 4mm to 25mm depending on usage. Various thickness of plywood is used for furniture or other construction purpose. There are different grades of plywood available in India.

Following grades of plywood are available in India -

Plywoods In India

MR grade plywood

Usually termed as commercial plywood. Specification – IS 303 (Indian standard). MR stands for “moisture resistance plywood”. It’s the most commonly used material for making furniture since it is the cheapest form as compared to other grades of plywood.

BWR grade plywood (IS 710 Indian standard)

Specification – BWR stands for “boiling water resistant “. It’s an exterior grade waterproof plywood which is better than MR grade plywood. It is preferred. It is a preferred choice for making home interiors and kitchen cabinets.

BWP grade plywood (IS 710)

BWP stands for “boiling water proof” plywood. It is similar to BWR but has better resistance to water as compared to both MR and BWR grade.

MDF plywood

MDF stands for “medium density fibreboard” is an engineered material made by breaking down hardboard or Soft board residual into fine particles combining it with wax and resin binder and applying high temperature and pressure.
Advantages of MDF are - that it is generally cheaper than plywood. MDF is not as hard as plywood and can sag under heavy weight. MDF does not handle moisture very well. MDF is not as hard as plywood and can be damaged easily when roughly handled. It is not as stiff as plywood.

BWP / BWR grade plywood

BWP / BWR grade plywood are also referred to marine plywood in India. (However technically speaking this is not correct as actual marine grade plywood is different from BWP / BWR grade water proof plywood. It is a superior quality plywood used in marine application) BWP / BWR plywood however is superior than MR grade and is usually sufficient for indoor applications in interior design.
The Indian standard quality specification for marine types of plywood are described in the standard document IS 710.

Standard sheet sizes

1) 6’ x 4’
2) 8’ x 4’

Standard thickness of plywood

1) Marine – 4mm , 6mm, 9mm, 12mm & 19mm.
2) Commercial – 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 12mm & 18mm

Veneer

Veneer is a thin slice of wood usually thinner than 3mm that is typically glued on plywood as skin. Veneer is further melamine polished once used as an application to protect it from rough usage.

Do you have more questions?

Ask Us