Plywood is a wood-based panel product which is composed of at least three layers of wood, with the grain direction of each layer normally being oriented at an angle of 90° with respect to its neighbours. Plywood always consists of an odd (uneven) number of layers. According to the manufacturer’s specifications, the characteristics of plywood can be fine-tuned to meet various requirements concerning its resistance against heat, moisture, or climatic changes.
Plywood is manufactured from peeled softwood or hardwood veneers. The very first beech plywood panel was produced in Germany about 100 years ago. Plywood is used for manifold applications in exterior conditions, interior furnishings, for furniture manufacturing, as a packaging material, and for special applications, e.g. in vehicle production and other technical applications.
Its technical characteristics leave the designer ample space. Thus, plywood is first choice for instance in furniture, where slim profiles are to be used in combination with heavy loads.