Apple Plywood And Staining

[David Scigliano]

I am building a built in made of maple and maple plywood. I need to make tall fillers 3" X 8'. I don't want to use real maple and can't use maple ply because of the edges. I was wondering if I could us apple ply and just smooth and stain the edges.

[Richard Wolf]

I'm not sure what the advantage is using apple ply over maple ply, you still have edges to deal with. Try some edging tape on the maple ply.

Richard

[Chris Barton]

Hi David,

I may be a little confused but, like Richard, I would think that apple ply would have the same edge effect. Like the man said, banding tape is easy to get and not expensive, and it's a quick solution to your problem.

[Rob Blaustein]

It's possible that David is referring to the nicer edge in Applyply since it has more layers and no voids. There was some discussion of this point in the Balboa house cabinet thread (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27461&highlight=balboa)in which Mark Singer pointed out the use of this type of edge as a design element.

Why don't you want to use real maple? I wouldn't think it would be too expensive for a few 3" strips. Or if the edge of ply would stand out too much, edge band it either with the stick on stuff or with a thin strip of solid maple, but each of those takes more time than solid maple.

[Jamie Buxton]

ApplePly is maple. It is an all-hardwood plywood kinda like the familiar Baltic Birch, but it is made in North America from maple.

The edge of ApplePly is good-looking in some modern-style furniture, but it is obviously striped like any plywood. If you don't want that striping, edge the plywood with veneer tape or solid lumber.