Choosing the Right
Hardwood Plywood for Your Project
50
BY KEITH CHRISTMAN
sions shape not just performance, but the visual rhythm, scale, and material expression of a space.
Hardwood plywood is one of the most versatile and beautiful building materials available, but walking into a mill or distributor without a plan can be a recipe for frustration. The choices are staggering: species, cut, grade, core, match type, matching arrangement — and every decision affects cost, appearance, and performance. Understanding how these variables work together is the difference between a panel that looks exactly right in its final application and one that isn’t perfect. In architectural applications, these deci-
Start with the Species
SURFACEANDPANEL.COM
The face veneer is the soul of a hardwood plywood panel, and species selection drives everything that follows. The most commonly used species in North American hardwood plywood — cherry, red oak, white oak, maple, birch, walnut, and ash — each have distinct physical properties and visual characteristics that make them suited to different applications. But you may also want consider specialty and exotic species.