About Birch Plywood

Birch plywood has many features that make it ideal for the average home builder or repairman. Its light color and smooth texture are appealing to most members of a family, while the plywood's strength makes it easy for an amateur carpenter to create a few masterpieces. Be sure you know what you're buying, however, before you opt for birch plywood as its layered characteristics may not be apparent to those unfamiliar with the lumber industry.

Features

Birch plywood is known for being a thin but strong building material that can tackle a variety of home improvement and minor construction projects. It is very light in color, and has a smooth surface that is typically void of splinters or rough or jagged edges. This makes it perfect for constructing furniture, cabinets or even kid-friendly appliances that come into significant contact throughout the day.

Size

Birch plywood usually ranges in thickness from 3 millimeters to 36 millimeters. A typical birch plywood board, like other lumber boards, can come in a variety of sizes. Larger projects may require boards as wide as 32 inches and as high as 28 inches and even 36 by 36 inches.

Effects

Birch plywood is commonly used in a variety of projects including cabinets, desks and shelves. Being that it's reasonably priced, widely available and fairly durable, birch plywood also is used to build small-scale structures such as dollhouses, doghouses and many children's toys.

Types

Birch plywood can be treated or left untreated depending on a customer's request or its usage. It can be sanded on both sides, one side or left unsanded. Because it already has such as smooth surface, however, some pieces will not need to be sanded, while others may require a bit of work to obtain the perfectly smooth texture that many people have come to associate birch plywood with. It also can be treated to make wood that is used for water-resistant interiors or waterproof exteriors.

Misconceptions

Birch plywood is not one piece of wood, but is rather made up of multiple layers of birch veneers that determine the board's thickness. The birch plywood is usually composed of anywhere from one to more than 25 veneers that are glued together with a resin or another high-quality glue. Another fact that many people may not realize about birch plywood is that it comes from Europe, namely from Russia, Finland Latvia, Estonia and the Baltics.