Plywood notations

[Peter Liang]

I went to a local lumber yard today to check out some plywood and I was confused by some of the notations in the plywood names. I tried asking the person who worked there but he was not willing to help so can someone here help me understand what the names below represent?

Birch White 18mm G2S PF1S VC. I get the VC means veneer core, G2S seems to mean Good 2 Sides but not sure what that means exactly. PF1S means pre-finished one side?

Maple 3/4 C-2 SF PF1S VC. What does SF mean?

Maple 1/4 C-4 SF MR VC. What does MR mean?

Beech 1/2 B-4 P/S EURO STM VC. P/S means plain sliced? What does STM mean?

Thanks!

[Scott Austin]

Not an expert , but I will throw a out a couple guesses.

I'll say your right about prefinished.

SF could mean sanded face.

C grade plywood is a rougher grade so I will say MR is Maple rustic

P/S could be plain sliced ( I can't help but think power steering though ).

No clue on STM

[Peter Liang]

After some search I think MR might stand for Moisture Resistance, since I also remember seeing BWR which stands for Boiling Water Resistance.

[Victor Robinson]

Interesting - your guesses seem pretty reasonable. STM probably refers to "steamed" which is relevant to beech.

I'm curious which yard this was?

[Rick Fisher]

PF1S Means Pre finished 1 side

MR is Moisture resistant

I assume STM is Steamed as its beach but haven't seen that before ..

[Peter Liang]

This is Aura Hardwoods in San Jose. What does steamed mean?

[Andy Giddings]

Slicing Beech veneer often requires steaming as part of the prep. This also changes the tone/color

[Bill Orbine]

Disagree with SF meaning sanded face. I believe it means slip face. Otherwise, OK with steamed and moisture resistant abbreviations.

[Victor Robinson]

Disagree with SF meaning sanded face. I believe it means slip face. Otherwise, OK with steamed and moisture resistant abbreviations.

What does slip face mean?

[Bradley Gray]

slip face means slip matched veneer as opposed to book matched.