The Best Thin Plywood

While plywood products are normally thought of as ranging from ¼” up to ¾” in thickness, with the ½” to ¾” range making up the majority of sales, plywood products are also manufactured outside this range, with products that are both thicker and thinner. The thinnest plywood on the market ranges to 2mm thick (just over 1/16 inch).

These are specialty plywood products manufactured for special applications which can’t be accomplished by any other product on the market, whether plywood or some other material. But they are used for applications where there are no other products available for use. While the market may not be huge for these products, it is one that isn’t likely to go away, as there is really nothing else that people can use.

What’s the best thin plywood? That all depends on the project at hand. Knowing some of the most popular types, their characteristics, and how they are used will help you make your selection, if you are ever faced with a project where these engineered wood products are needed.

Characteristics of Thin Plywood

All types of plywood are made with strong resins and wood fibers, sheets, chips, or veneers, of varying quality. In general, thin plywood is manufactured in the same way thicker plywood are made; that is, by layering very thin sheets of wood one on top of the other, with the wood grain running perpendicular to the adjacent layers; then bonding them together with strong resins or glues. The minimum number of layers or “plies” for any plywood – even the thinnest – is three.

Using an odd number of layers to manufacture plywood allows the grain on both faces to run in the same direction. This is important for aesthetic purposes. But at the same time, the extra layer makes a sheet of plywood stronger in one direction than it is in the other direction.

As with any plywood product, manufacturing thin plywood makes it stronger, more stable, and less prone to warping and twisting than boards are. However, most plywood will display a little bit of a bow, caused by how it is banded horizontally to a pallet for shipping, with the ends overhanging the ends of the pallet. This bow isn’t much of a problem for thin plywood because whatever structure you attach it to will be stronger than the plywood, pulling it straight.

Because of the needs of the manufacturing process, thin plywood is typically manufactured without voids, splits or knotholes found in thicker plywood, especially softwood plywood. Some types are highly flexible, allowing it to be used around curves.

Popular Types of Thin Plywood

Thin plywood is used for various applications for high-strength, high-quality sheet material that offers resistance to cracks, breaks, twisting, warping, and shrinkage. Many different hardwood and softwood plywood meet these needs under specific circumstances. In many cases, thin plywood is called for because of the need to curve the sheet to meet design requirements.

Thin plywood can also provide a decorative or smooth surface to attach other things. When those smooth surfaces are needed, but a thicker material cannot be used, such as underlayment, thin plywood has the strength and flatness to provide a smooth, even surface for bonding floor covering.

Some of the most popular types of thin plywood include:

Aircraft Grade Plywood

Aircraft-grade plywood was first developed during World War II for the aircraft industry. There was a limit to how much aluminum was available, as most came from Africa, Australia, and South America. While the third most abundant material in the Earth’s crust requires extra steps to mine and refine, increasing the cost. For these reasons, some aircraft were designed to be made of thin plywood, using more abundant natural resources in the United States.

To save weight in aircraft manufacture, aircraft-grade plywood tends to be very thin and light. The thinnest plywood products available today are aircraft-grade. Yet, even though it is thin, it still offers excellent strength. This is partly due to the rosin used for bonding the veneers, which are designed to handle higher heat and humidity levels.

Today, the only aircraft where aircraft plywood is still used is for restoration work and building airplane models. That doesn’t mean that there is no market for aircraft plywood. It is popular for all types of model making, doll houses, and packaging for fine-quality products (primarily cigars and chocolate). Cases for musical instruments also incorporate aircraft plywood in their manufacture.

Decorative Plywood

Decorative plywood is more commonly referred to as “paneling.” However, this appellation is a bit unfair, as most paneling is vinyl coated with a wood-print design rather than being made with a hardwood veneer face. While used in the same applications, decorative plywood provides a much richer appearance, as it is made of real wood.

These decorative hardwood products come in various thicknesses, with some of the most popular being very thin and lightweight. The hardwood face veneer is often ash, birch, oak, maple, mahogany, teak, or rosewood, although any hardwood can be used. Manufacturers of decorative plywood often match the wood, providing the best possible appearance from their products. It is sometimes bonded with fabric or resin-impregnated paper and is useful in applications that call for dying or drawing on wood.

The special care used in manufacturing this plywood to provide the best possible appearance shows up in the product’s pricing. You can expect to pay top dollar for most decorative plywood but will end up with a project that reflects the money you put into it.

Flexible Plywood

Flexible plywood is sometimes known as bendy ply or wiggle board, and in the UK, it is nicknamed hatters ply because it was used for making stovepipe hats during the Victorian era. This is usually lightweight and is the best thin plywood for making curved parts for projects of all sorts.

The plywood is made flexible by a combination of different techniques, not just making it thin. Thin hardwood plywood, even 1/8 inch thick, still isn’t very flexible, although aircraft grade plywood tends to be more flexible than other hardwood plywood; it isn’t as flexible as plywood products made for that particular purpose.

Each flexible plywood product is designed for a specific bend radius. When shopping for it, you need not only to know what plywood thickness you want to have; but also what radius you plan to bend it to. The same manufacturer might provide more than one plywood made to the same thickness but with different bend radiuses. This bend radius is only in one direction; typically, the panel is rather rigid in the other direction.

Flexible plywood can be used in various projects, especially architectural uses, such as making columns and in manufacturing furniture, where curved wood panels are necessary. It has also found a home in the marine industry, where it is used for the furnishings inside of yachts, many of which have to be built with curves to match the shape of the boat’s hull.

Marine Plywood

Thin plywood can fit into one of the above categories and be marine plywood. What makes it marine plywood is that it is manufactured to meet specific specifications. The most important parts of those specifications is that the plywood panel is without voids and that moisture-resistant adhesives are used in its manufacture. Many marine grade plywoods are rated as WBP (weather and boil proof).

Marine plywood such as Okoume is typically available in thin, strong, lightweight sheets. Even the thinnest Marine plywood tends to be a bit pricey compared to most other types of plywood, but its special characteristics make it well worth the investment.

As mentioned in the section on flexible plywood above, marine applications require some flexibility, which requires thin plywood. Marine-grade plywood is used because it is less likely to delaminate under the moisture conditions that marine applications subject the plywood to.

Working with Thin Plywood

Cutting thin plywood with a saw can be extremely difficult. In some cases where the fence doesn’t fit snugly to the table, it’s possible to get the edge of the plywood sheet caught under the edge of the fence, making it stick. In other cases, the blade will chip the plywood badly, especially the surface veneer.

The solution to this is to cut the plywood with a utility knife. This is especially useful when crosscutting the surface veneer, as that’s when you’ll likely have the most problem with chipping the veneer. At the same time, the inner layer’s grain will be running in the direction of your cut, making it extremely easy to snap it off in that direction.

You’ll want to measure your plywood and mark it on one side. Then, using a straight edge and a utility knife, score the surface of the plywood. Learn the point of the knife’s blade into the straight edge to ensure that it doesn’t wander off, following the wood’s grain. Score the same line several more times, making it deeper.

With one side scored. Use a pencil to transfer the cut point to the edge and the other side of the panel. That’s more accurate than measuring it again. Then score the second side in the same manner as you did the first. Once the scored line is deep enough to go through the face veneer, snap the board off at the cut line by bending it.

flexible, wooden, sheet, lumber
Flexible wooden sheets, SNIJLAB Rotterdam

Because these plywood panels are so thin, it is difficult to nail them in place, and the nails are quite likely to pull through the plywood. Even staples can pull through with enough strain put on them. Therefore, it is typical to glue projects made with thin plywood. Nails, more specifically brads or staples, can hold the plywood parts in place while the glue dries; but the major structural support comes from the glue, not the fasteners.

With this in mind, making projects using thin plywood without any fasteners is possible. However, you must clamp your parts well until the glue can dry. Remember that the thin plywood is more flexible, so it will not apply pressure across a large span by itself. You may need to use some temporary backing board as part of the clamping setup to hold the whole surface glued snugly against the framework it is being glued to.

Professional Recommendations When Choosing

When choosing plywood, consider the characteristics most desirable for the project and decide based on the product’s ability to meet your needs. Looks, strength, weight, even the price, and the ability to withstand wear are some to keep in mind.

Musical instruments, models, and cabinets are some of the most popular items made with thin plywood. Other items like kites, miniatures, and even things like hockey sticks and blades for wind turbines call for quality plywood much thinner than the wood used in heavy-duty applications.

Ensure that you check to determine whether the product you are considering is rated for indoor or outdoor use, and be sure that it offers the flexibility or rigidity desired. Ultimately, the best thin plywood is the one that is best suited to the job it will be performing.