Boat building with marine plywood
Plywood is currently one of the most popular engineered wood out there. With its applications ranging from furniture and interior design all the way to heavy construction, and even boat building. Given wood’s natural tendency to sog and rot away when coming into contact with water, this might be hard to believe. But with raw engineering ingenuity, plywood can now be manufactured specifically to counter this, going as far as becoming waterproof. Commonly known as marine plywood, its introduction completely revolutionized the way wood is used as a building and manufacturing material. In this post, we’ll take a look at marine plywood, what it is, how it came to be, what it is used for’ and how you can get the most out of your marine plywood
Like any other plywood, marine plywood is manufactured using thin layers of wood veneers extracted from tree logs. What makes it stand out are the materials used. Unlike other types of plywood, marine plywood is often made with the highest quality wood and glue. Exclusively made with hardwood species such as pine or douglas fir, although hardly unique in this regard, marine plywood is also manufactured with a higher number of layers compared to other plywood. Both of these factors give it a great deal of durability and resistance against physical force, perfect for construction uses. Regarding adhesives, only the highest quality of waterproof glue is used in its manufacture, allowing marine plywood to endure even when fully submerged underwater, hence the name.
Marine plywood can be used in various applications, from building furniture to construction. Its waterproof ability means you can reliably use marine plywood in high moisture environments such as bathrooms and kitchens. Being durable and hardy, marine plywood proves to be a fantastic material for outdoor builds. Most notably, boat building seems to be the one application that makes the most use out of marine plywood properties.
Although it has great waterproof capability, marine plywood is not 100% resistant against water. Unless treated with chemicals, marine plywood can still rot away after a period of time. While this is rather unlikely, since marine plywood is mostly manufactured with high grade veneers that are devoid of defects; you should still be attentive to keep it sealed as marine plywood can be rather pricey to replace. With all of its amazing properties and capabilities, marine plywood is bound to have a downside. Due to being produced with all high grade hardwood veneers and expensive waterproof glue, marine plywood costs a lot. Price for a board of marine plywood can easily double that of normal commercial grade plywood. So just because it’s durable and waterproof, that doesn’t mean you should use marine plywood as expendables or dip it underwater 24/7. Although technically, you could; as long as your wallet can keep up, that is.
As you can see, marine plywood might not sound or look fancy but it is by far, the most versatile plywood on the market. Though it can’t compete with other plywood in terms of look and being a bit heavier on the wallet; it has fantastic weight-bearing and waterproof capabilities, you can find use for marine plywood in almost every application.
