subject: How Is Meranti Plywood Made? [print this page] Picture this scenario: Picture this scenario:
Youre building a tree house for your little one. Its going to be absolutely beautiful. Youre making it warm, cozy, and just plain awesome! There wont be anything fancy, but you want to make sure that its sturdy. After all, you never know what kind of sleepovers he or she will be having and you dont want anyone to get hurt.
The point? Well, youre probably searching for a good sturdy material in this case. You want something strongperhaps even as strong or stronger as wood, only cheaper. Or is it really worth going for a cheaper material?
This is where Meranti plywood comes in. It is not only a beautiful type of plywood, but it is also strong.
But you may be wonderinghow is plywood made? How is Meranti plywood made? Well, it all starts with a log.
The thing about the log used for plywood is that they arent exactly poor gradeor really in any way inferior. Theyre just a little bit too big for the sawmills. So, instead of sitting and rotting and potentially causing a hazard, they are made into plywood.
Now, plywood making isnt the same as regular wood cutting. You dont just hack and slash and bam! You have wood. It is a much longer and difficult process.
It first starts with that log. It will be stripped of its bark until you see the very top layer. This is then peeledsort of like how you peel a potato, except not quite as messy and the peel is used.
After several layers of a certain width and thickness are collected, you then proceed to stack them flat.
Then, they are glued, one piece at a time, with the grain perpendicular to the previous piece. Once the thickness desired is achieved, it is baked for a while in a very hot, very dangerous oven.
Afterwards, you either have Meranti plywood, or birch plywood, or whatever else that you can think of.
Meranti plywood is considered to be of a higher grade than random-wood-collage plywood. This means that it is better quality, sturdier, etc.
Meranti also has many uses. It can be used as flooring, walling, or pretty much anything that you desire. If you are, like the example stated above, building a tree house, you could use it inside or outdepending on the type of Meranti plywood that you bought.
Keep in mind that it is not marine plywood. This means that you cannot simply use it for boats and other thingsunless you find marine grade version.
Keep in mind that marine grade means that the plywood can be exposed to high moisturebut submersion is out of the question.
A few places you can find Meranti plywood are online or in a hardwood store. If you cannot find the grade you want or cant find it at all, your best bet is to search online. Once you have located the grade/type of your choice, your building journey has begun!
