Top Quality Alder Plywood: Ultimate Guide for Woodworkers

Characteristics of Alder Plywood

• Alder plywood features a fine, light-grain pattern and consistent color, making it a versatile choice for paneling, furniture, and cabinetry.
• It is reddish-brown with tiny pores and an even fine straight grain.
• Alder plywood is easy to match and finish, accepting an array of finishes from clear to dark cherry.
• It’s a great choice for any interior design, from rustic to contemporary.
• Alder ranks high in every major area of workability, including machining, sanding, and gluing.

Types of Alder Plywood

• A Grade: provides the cleanest and most uniform combination of natural characteristics and color within the Alder offering.
• B Grade: offers a balanced combination of natural characteristics and color, a happy medium between A and C grades.
• C Grade / Rustic: provides the most concentrated natural characteristics within the Alder offering, with a unique, rustic look.
• Quartered offers an extra straight grain compared to flat cut, which is ideal for cabinetry and similar venues.
• Book Match: offers a unique and attractive pattern that adds visual interest to a project.

Wood Veneer Options

• Alder veneer sheets are available in various sizes for your project.
• Choose between paper-backed or wood-backed veneer sheets for your specific needs.
• Consider adding 3M peel-and-stick adhesive for easy installation and removal.
• Insure your veneer for loss or damage for added peace of mind (recommended).

Working with Alder Plywood

• Alder plywood is stocked in 4′ x 8′ sheets and is available in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 inch thicknesses.
• Thickness options include 1/4″, 1/2″, and 3/4″.
• Contact us for a quote at P. 909.920.5430.
• Alder plywood is great for furniture, cabinetry, and other woodworking projects.

Different woods are constantly moving towards the forefront as others become less common. Over-harvesting of certain woods drives the price up as the trees near extinction. At the same time, other woods, which have been largely ignored, gained in popularity. Such is the case of alder wood, a hardwood from the northwestern coastal area of the United States.

The alder tree’s trunk grows straight and tall without dividing, allowing many good logs to be sawn into boards. The tree can grow 100 to 130 feet tall, with a 2 to 3 feet trunk diameter. It provides a considerable amount of fine, straight-grained wood with a uniform texture in a tan to reddish-brown color. Alder wood is sold in two different grades, straight and “knotty.” As the name implies, knotty alder is similar to pine, having knothole in it like number 1 or number 2 common pine. This works out very well for applications where a more rustic appearance is desired.

Although alder is a hardwood, it is one of the softer hardwoods out there, with Janka hardness rating of 590 lbf. This puts it slightly higher than white pine but lower than some pine species. This makes the wood easy to machine and extremely easy to sand. However, sharp tools are required to help avoid tear-out. Like other softer woods, alder is unforgiving to dull tools, making it possible to ruin a project piece when crosscutting it to length. The fine, even alder grain has made it an exceptionally good wood for turning, especially spindle turning.

Alder is finding a home in a wide range of applications, including interior hardwood doors, cabinetry, millwork pallets and electric guitar bodies. The wood is veneered, used for making plywood, and chipped for other plywood products. Alder hardwood plywood is available in 4’ x 8’ sheets, in common thicknesses from 1/8” through 3/4”. Thicknesses 1/4” and below are MDF core, while the thicker sheets are “pro-core.” For those unfamiliar with pro-core, it is a softwood veneer core with thin particle board layers immediately below the face and back veneers. Adding the particle board layers provides an excellent surface for laminating the veneers, providing a very smooth surface, even with thin face veneer.

Care must be taken when crosscutting the face veneer to avoid splintering as with any hardwood plywood. Veneer thicknesses on modern hardwood plywood are extremely thin, making it considerably easier for them to splinter, which can destroy the piece’s visual appeal. Cutting through the veneer before cutting or sandwiching the plywood to cut it will go a long way toward reducing splintering and cutting through from the reverse side.

Although a hardwood, alder has no natural resistance to moisture or insect damage. Compared to other hardwoods, such as oak, maple and even cherry, it is not as durable. When used in outdoor applications or areas with high humidity, the wood should be finished to protect it from damage. In addition to insect and water damage, this wood is also more susceptible to denting and scratching. However, being relatively soft, sanding out such damage and refinishing the piece is easy.

Due to the grain of the wood, alder can be readily stained to resemble any of the common domestic hardwoods, providing a means of building such projects at a more reasonable cost. The even grain provides a very consistent stained appearance. Clear alder has an even lower cost than select grain pine, making it an excellent choice as a replacement for pine in applications where low-cost, clear-grained wood is needed.

Alder is also available for purchase as hardwood boards and in pre-cut blanks for electric guitar bodies. Knotty alder is relatively inexpensive, running roughly one-and-a-half times the cost of pine. Clear alder is more expensive but still reasonable, with pricing slightly less than the best prices for oak, maple, and walnut. Plywood is roughly the same price as other domestic hardwood plywood varieties.

Conclusion:

• Alder plywood is a top-quality choice for woodworkers, offering a range of benefits and options.
• With its fine grain, consistent color, and ease of workability, Alder plywood is ideal for various projects.
• Whether you’re looking for a rustic or contemporary look, Alder plywood has a grade and veneer option to suit your needs.