Plywood is the most popular wood product on the market. The various grades and types of plywood available make it possible for woodworkers to do just about any project they want, strictly from plywood. When used in conjunction with solid hardwood boards, there’s almost nothing that can’t be built.
The problem with many plywood projects isn’t making the project itself, as plywood is stable and easy to machine, but finishing the plywood in a way that looks good. Well finished plywood can look as nice as any other wood, but if it’s poorly finished, people can tell.
A proper finish starts with selecting the right plywood, especially the plywood grade. Lower-grade plywood, especially construction-grade plywood, is not designed for fine finishing but rather for use in places where it is not visible. For a fine finish, start out with some quality hardwood. If softwood is desired, at least select a high grade of softwood. A-grade face finish is the only option for a good finish on softwood furniture made of plywood, while A and B grades work well for hardwood plywood.
The most common finishes used with plywood are paint and stain, but those aren’t the only options. We aren’t limited to only one way of finishing with paint or stain. Other finish materials can be used with these, as well as different techniques that will create special effects in our finish, even making plywood look like some other material.
A Smooth Varnished Finish
Most people think of a stained and varnished finish as being a finer finish than a painted one. We all enjoy the natural beauty of wood and like to let it shine through whenever we can. But not all stained and varnished finishes end up looking good, mostly because people try to rush through the process rather than taking the time to properly prepare the surface and apply the finish.
Creating a smooth finish is actually more about sanding than varnishing, although varnish is used. Nevertheless, quality finishing materials, which provide high build-up, are essential to achieve a high-grade finish that will impress people.
Start by sanding the entire surface with 220 grit sandpaper, smoothing the whole surface of the project while taking care not to sand through the face veneer. Hardwood plywood often has a fragile face veneer, 1/40th of an inch thick, so care must be taken. Some sanding with coarser grits may be necessary before 220 grit is used, but the final sanding should be with 220 grit sandpaper, removing all scratch marks from sanding with coarser grades of sandpaper.
Clean off sanding dust with a vacuum cleaner and then wipe down the project with a damp cloth to remove any remaining dust. Be sure to clean off the workbench or finishing area, removing dust that could end up in the finish.
If a stain will be used, this is the time for it. Stains don’t generally affect the smoothness of the surface, although they can lift the grain, especially if they are allowed to dry on the surface rather than being wiped off.
Once the stain has had ample time to dry, apply a quality wood grain filler or sanding sealer. Wood grain filler or paste wood filler is used on open-grain woods, such as oak, to fill the pores in the grain. Once it dries to a putty-like consistency, the piece should be rubbed down with natural burlap, removing the excess filler and leaving it in the wood’s pores. Then, the sanding sealer should be applied. This acts as a primer for paint, sealing the surface pores so that the varnish doesn’t soak in.
Sanding sealers are usually fast-drying, so they can be lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper after about half an hour. Wipe off the sanding dust with a tacky cloth.
The project is now ready for the polyurethane finish. Floor finish is thicker than other polyurethanes, providing a heavier coat. Brush it on with a good natural bristle or foam brush, carefully avoiding drips or runs.
Once the polyurethane finish has dried, hand sand it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper to remove any bumps, especially where dust particles have settled in the finish. When you rub your hand over the surface of the project, these will feel almost like grains of sand. Wipe off the sanding dust with a clean, tacky cloth.
Repeat the application of polyurethane as many times as necessary to build up a finish as thick as you would like, sanding lightly with 220 grit sandpaper between each coat.
Once the finish is thick enough, lightly sand it with 400 grit sandpaper and then 600 grit sandpaper. This will smooth out the varnish, providing a perfectly flat surface, hopefully without defects. For the final polish, buff the finish with a good-quality carnauba wood floor wax.
Painting for a Smooth Finish
No painted plywood project will look as good as a varnished one, but there are times when paint is more appropriate. As with staining and varnishing, the key to a good painted finish is proper surface preparation, sanding the surface smooth and flat, and working through the grits of sandpaper down to 200 grit.
Once the plywood is sanded smooth, vacuum and then wipe off any remaining dust, cleaning the surface and the work area around the project. Any dust left behind will likely find its way into the paint, so it’s good to remove it.
Prime the surface of the wood with a fast-drying primer-sealer and allow it to dry. Some primer-sealers will dry in as little as 30 minutes, allowing you to continue with the finish work.
Running a hand over the project’s surface is a great way to tell how smooth it is and whether any grains of dust got into the primer. If they did, a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper will knock them down, allowing the finish process to continue. It isn’t necessary to apply a second coating of primer unless the project requires enough sanding to make the plywood visible again.
High-quality paints will have a higher percentage of solids, allowing them to build thicker coats of paint. That not only covers better but will also work to provide a smoother, more durable finish. Even so, the biggest problem in painting such projects is the elimination of brushstrokes. Working with a high-quality brush can help; natural bristle for oil-based paints and nylon for water-based paints. It can also help to add the product Pentrol to the paint when using oil-based paints and Floetrol when using water-based paints. These products help the paint to flow out, smoothing out brush strokes.
As long as high-quality paint is used, it shouldn’t take more than two coats of paint to cover any project. However, a third coat will often help hide the grain and any irregularities in the paint, providing a smoother, more even finish.
Making Plywood Walls Look Good
At times, it can be useful to cover walls with plywood rather than drywall. Plywood is considerably stronger, so when there is a need for a more secure wall that someone could not punch through or when dividing a workshop from a living area, it might be advisable to cover the wall with ½” AB grade plywood rather than sheetrock.
The problem is that painted plywood tends to look like painted plywood, especially when it is used on walls, right next to drywall. The secret to getting it to look the same as the drywall, is to start by taping the plywood, just like you would with drywall. Then, skim coat the entire plywood surface with drywall mud and then sand it smooth. Once textured and painted, it will look just like the rest of the walls.
How to Stain a Plywood Floor
Wood floors are normally hardwood or laminate, laid over a plywood substrate. But hardwood flooring is expensive. So some people might need to wait before installing it. There might also be situations where the plywood is left, without covering it with hardwood flooring, because a wood floor is desired, but it is in a part of the home where appearance is not all that critical.
In that case, the plywood subflooring can be stained and varnished, creating a faux wood floor. This only works if a good grade of plywood is used for the floor. It won’t look good with a C or D grade plywood; but will look okay with a B grade surface showing. Many times the cost between BC and CD plywood is minimal, so this is not unrealistic.
Before applying any finish to the floor, sand it smooth, paying particular attention to the edges where sheets of plywood come together. Then be sure to clean up all the dust, wiping the floor down with a damp cloth.
Normal wood stain can be used on plywood floors, but it is best to dilute it 50/50 with mineral spirits. The amount of tint that is normally added to wood stains is rather high, as it is intended to be applied and then wiped off. But rather than wiping it off, we’re going to wipe it into the wood grain.
To apply the stain, use a rag, dipping it into the can of stain and then rubbing it into the floor. This saves the mess of removing excess stain and provides a uniform finish.
Once the stain has had time to dry, the plywood floor can then be covered with two coats of a heavy-duty polyurethane floor finish. For best results, apply it with a foam roller or brush.
Texturing Plywood to Age It
For most applications, a smooth surface is desired. But that’s not the case when a distressed look finish is being applied. In that case, a rough finish is advantageous, as it makes the wood look naturally aged. Take a look at the surface of an old wood privacy fence sometime; the surface will be rough, as if part of the wood fiber is worn away.
This look can be created artificially on perfectly new plywood, providing a great surface for painting and applying the antique finish to. All it takes is a corded drill and a brass wire brush for the drill. A cupped wire brush will work better, although a flat round one can be used as well. However, the flat round brush or a steel wire brush, will be more aggressive on the wood than the brass cup brush will.
All that’s needed is to run the brush over the wood, covering the entire surface, while holding the drill at an angle, running at full speed. The wire brush will dig out the softer part of the grain, leaving the harder. For softwood (pine) plywood, this means digging out the lighter part of the grain, while leaving the darker.
Once the entire surface has been brushed from one direction, the board should be turned 180 degrees, the drill switched over to run in reverse, and the surface should be gone over again. This will provide brush marks that run crosswise to the original ones, making the artificial aging look more natural.
Caution should be taken while doing this, so as to not go through the face veneer. For this reason, this procedure doesn’t work well with hardwood plywood, which has a very thin face veneer. It does work well with construction grade plywood though, as well as for pine or whitewood boards.
Once the wood is textured, it can be stained, and/or paints can be applied by brushing or rubbing them in with a cloth to provide the desired antique effect. Most of the time, two to three different colors are applied to make it appear as if the paint has peeled off, exposing older layers of paint underneath.
A number of different special effects can be applied to plywood projects, making the plywood appear like other materials. One common material that plywood mimics is steel.
Making Plywood Look Like Old Steel
The perception that the plywood is old steel can be accomplished by first priming the sanded plywood and then painting it with a couple of coats of aluminum-colored paint, allowing the paint to dry between coats. If a grey primer is used, the paint will likely cover better than if a white paint is used.
Once the paint is dry, the surface of the plywood can be “antiqued” by taking a clean natural bristle brush and putting just a little stain on the end. The idea is to apply the stain with a “dry brush” technique. This is as if the brush had been used for staining, and then the stain was cleaned out as best as possible with paper towels. A little bit of stain will remain behind, but not enough to lay down a coating anywhere.
With a dry brush like this, paint over all the edges, protrusions, and seams, applying just enough stain to look like the steel is dirty in those areas. A full covering is not desired; merely a dusting is. Allow the project to dry, and then cover the stain with a clear coat spray.
Making Plywood Look Like Black Steel
A charming black steel effect can be made on plywood very quickly. Before doing so, sand the plywood smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and apply a single coat of sanding sealer. Allow the sanding sealer to dry, and then lightly sand it with 220 grit sandpaper to eliminate any dust specks sticking up.
The first finish coat is black putty, not paint. This should be scraped onto the surface of the plywood, across the grain, with a putty knife, scraping off any excess that doesn’t go down into the wood grain. While the idea is to cover the entire surface, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Instead, it is best to leave some bare spots to give the project a more aged appearance when finished. Scrape the surface with the putty knife to remove any excess. Then, allow the putty to dry thoroughly before proceeding.
Tinting of the wood is accomplished by rubbing on India ink. This must be purchased from an art store, as they are probably the only ones with genuine India ink. It is a permanent ink that is not water-based. If anyone offers a water-based product, it’s not the real thing.
The problem with working with India ink is that it stains badly- clothes, workbench tops, hands, and anything else it comes into contact with. So, care must be taken to cover the benchtop, and rubber gloves must be worn when working with it. Wear old work clothes, just in case.
Rub the Indian ink into the wood with a cotton rag, wiping off any excess. The India ink will stain the wood rapidly, turning it black. Together with the wood putty, it will provide a mottled black appearance, almost black on black, which will look like old black steel.
Making Plywood Look Like Marble
A slightly more complicated process allows plywood, such as plywood countertops, to look like marble countertops. This technique originated from using epoxy resin with wood. A slow-curing epoxy, one with a working time of 24 hours or so, is needed.
The surface is first covered with Bondo (automotive body putty) to fill in the edge grain and any imperfections on the surface. On the edges, a putty knife can create texture by placing it on the Bondo and then pulling it away. This will cause peaks in the Bondo. Once the Bondo cures, it is sanded smooth, except the edges, which are sanded enough to remove the peaks but still left rough, as if they represent the rough edges of the stone slab.
The surface is then painted with a couple of coats of primer/sealer of a color compatible with the finished color desired for the countertop. If a white marble look is desired, use a white primer; black for black. For every other color, use a gray primer, as it will blend best with the different colors used.
The key to this surface finish is the application of the two-part epoxy, which is poured onto the surface and then leveled with a ¼” notched trowel, the same kind used for ceramic floor tile. Then, paint brushes are used, stabbing into the resin all across the surface, breaking the surface tension and creating an uneven surface.
Now it’s time to apply the colors. This is the crazy part, but it’s highly effective. First, metal dust is sprinkled or sprayed across the surface, giving it a light dusting. Then, spray paint is used to apply coloration. Take the various spray paint colors and paint sloppy lines, all running in the same direction, across the entire surface. Don’t cover the whole surface; make a bunch of lines.
The colors used for this should follow a theme, allowing for the final coloration of the countertop.
If you desire a white marble look, spray white with a little bit of black, grey, and possibly a tiny bit of brown.
If a black marble look is desired, spray black, with a little white and grey.
If you desire a turquoise marble look, spray a couple of shades of each blue and green, along with a little bit of yellow and a touch of black.
Taking a paint paddle and laying it on its side, move it back and forth across the direction of the painted lines as if it were a trowel, making short strokes to mix the paint and metal dust into the epoxy. If bubbles form, run the flame of a plumbing torch across the surface to bring the bubbles to the top and pop them.
At first, the countertop will look horrible, like someone made a big mistake or a first grader messed with the paint. That’s normal. Continue adding applications of metal dust and spray paint, working them back and forth, and mixing the colors. Each time additional paint is added and mixed, the mixture becomes more complex and random until it reaches the appearance of natural stone.
Once it has reached that point, allow the rosin two days to fully cure, and then coat it with another layer of epoxy, allowing that to cure fully before the countertop is used.
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