Birch plywood: properties and how to work with it
Birch plywood is denser and stronger than poplar plywood – and has a pale, decorative grain. Our coloured cutouts and coloured clipboards are made from it.
At a glance
| Property | Birch plywood |
|---|---|
| Weight | slightly heavier than poplar plywood, much lighter than beech plywood |
| Our cutouts | 3 mm thick |
| Surface | pale, smooth and dense, with a decorative grain |
| Working with it | cut with a fretsaw, sand, drill, laser-cut |
| Gluing | wood glue or craft glue |
| Painting | ideally after priming, then seal |
Features
Its dense wood structure makes birch plywood very tough. It is stronger than the softer poplar plywood. It is used in furniture making, vehicle and boat building, interior fit-out and flooring. It is also used for model making and craft projects.
It is slightly heavier than poplar plywood. But it is much lighter than beech plywood, for example. The surface is pale and has a very decorative grain.
How plywood is made
Plywood is not made from a single piece. Several thin, well-dried layers are stacked on top of each other, each turned by 90°. They are glued and pressed under heat. The cross-glued layers make the board stable and keep it in shape.
With birch plywood, this gives a material with high bending strength.
Working and gluing
Birch plywood is easy to work with: you can saw it with a fretsaw, sand it, drill it or laser-cut it. To stop the fibres from splintering, use a fine-toothed saw blade – or put masking tape over the cutting line. Wood glue or craft glue is all you need to glue it.
Painting birch plywood
The smooth, dense surface is good for painting. Apply a primer first. It makes the wood less absorbent, and the paint sticks better. Suitable options:
- Acrylic paint
- Acrylic lacquer
- Synthetic resin lacquer
- Chalk paint
- Wood stain
- Spray paint
After painting, we recommend sealing the surface. We seal our coloured clipboards with clear varnish. This protects the surface and keeps the colours bright.
Products made from birch plywood
- Birch plywood, coloured – cutouts in lots of colours
- Clipboards – made from birch plywood or HDF
- Tree decorations