Woodworking needs thoughtful planning before working on it, especially relating to your wood materials.
Either you can invest sufficient time to research the best materials you need or to spend a lot of money correcting your mistakes.
There are many factors to consider for a versatile material like plywood before you can start your woodworking project. This article will explain briefly to you, the top 7 secrets to consider when buying plywood.
Top 7 Secrets to Consider When Buying Plywood in Malaysia (2020)
1. know your budget
The first most crucial secret is to know how much you need and want to spend.
Review your project alongside with your material purchase listing. You may find out that, for example, tasks like subflooring do not require grade A plywood. Lower grades plywoods are sufficient to serve such needs.
Also, some works only need thinner and less expensive plywood options which do not require more plied plywood.
2. identify the plywood types
Understanding the types of plywood is a primary requirement to prevent unnecessary repairs and wastages.
There are several types of plywood, such as Malaysia local Multi-ply wood or Indonesia plywood which both have their features respectively.
3. specify the plywood grade
Plywoods are graded from BB/CC grade to B grade plywood, with BB/CC is the highest grade and B the lowest. The higher the grade, the better quality the quality of the plywood surface and its core.
However, not all woodworking project need high-grade plywoods, such as subflooring, for example.
4. determine the plywood size
The plywood size is another concern. The most commonly used is 4ft x 8ft, which you can cut into smaller sizes depending on your requirements.
Also, the plywood thickness also needs to be considered, which is relating to its strength. Please check with your supplier about which thickness serve best for which part of work.
5. ensure the plywood flatness
The flatness of the plywood is an essential factor to consider also. It is better to try hard to avoid as much as you can, even though stumbling on one or two bent plywood is still quite common.
The bent plywoods are challenging to use, and this is mainly on huge parts like doors and cabinet structures.
Furthermore, there will be a problem with its layering if the plywood is not flat at all, or at least more than 95% flat, bringing up more issues to your work
6. inspect the plywood edges
As for plywoods, it would be better if the veneer is thicker along with more plies.
You must take a close look at the edges, particularly the face veneer. It should be very straightforward to measure the thickness of the surface. Otherwise, it is too thin, and the thicker, the more durable.
Thin veneers cause trouble in the finishing process and the sanding process. Besides, you need to check the joints between them.
7. the plywood supplier or source
Last but not least, your plywood supplier is among the most important point among the 7 things to consider when buying your plywood.
There are a lot of plywood sellers, but you can never be sure who to trust, particularly now that the price of plywood is dropping.
Suppliers are struggling to keep up with the reduced price, and therefore compromising with the plywood quality. However, this should not be a problem when you buy from reputable plywood suppliers like GM Oriental Trading Sdn. Bhd.
Conclusion
I hope this article covers all, if not all, but most of all the factors, which can help you to consider before you are going source your plywood materials from your current suppliers.
Otherwise, you may contact us to obtain the latest plywood price in Malaysia.
