Plywood - Finishing

[Laurence]

Any advice on staining plywood please? may be a silly question but also: when bought, one side of the plywood is sanded (but appears to have cross scratches) the other is rougher (but thicker). It is the sanded side that is the wurface I should be working on isn't it?
Regards
Laurence

[RETIRED]

Gooday.

Plywood comes in various grades. I can't recall all of them but what you have is CD,i.e one side sanded, one rough.

Yes it is the sanded side which you should be working on.


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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

[RETIRED]

Back again

These should keep you out of mischief and tell you all you need to know. I hope so.
http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fp...ood/intro.html

http://www.australply.com.au/


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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

[Shane Watson]

Theres really no difference in staining ply than timber. Depends on how even you want it - just like timber. If you don't care, then just stain it. But if you want a more even look then toning it would be a better alternative though will be more work...

[soundman]

A nice select piece of ply can come up real nice.
I work almost exclusively in ply, some times carpeted,somtimes painted, sometimes smeared in evil black goo.
Ocasionaly I get the oportunity to do a propper finish ( of Sorts )

The rape & pilliage luan ply comes up very nice but requires quite some grain filling or it will drink your finish faster than shane can down an icy NQ larger.

A good sanding sealer is a real help I have found. Because the ply is peeled & not solid the surface realy needs consolidating.

Sealing & grain filling realy help.

If you are using pine ply be carefull how you go as the soft parts of the grain will sand away easier than the hard parts.

That fact makes a rustic finish easier though.

Have a go.