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Plywood or Lauan?

PostPosted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 1:57 am
by Deryk the Pirate
I was curious about what the difference between the 2 are and I googled it and found this...

What is the difference between Luan Plywood and regular good-one-side plywood?
Good one side is a recognized grade for Canadian made Fir plywood. This panel is obviously made from Fir veneer and bonded on exterior grade resins. The face is well sanded, repairs and natural defects (knots, splits, etc) are limited. For further info try the Canadian Plywood Association, www.canply.org/.
Laun is a term to reference a group of wood species. Laun plywood's come in a variety of grades, some of which are similar to Good one side. Launs are usually bonded with interior grad resins and are not equal to Fir plywood in structural strength.



well, only problem I have with the description of lauan is useing interior grade glues...well what about this?

http://www.homedepot.com/Lumber-Composi ... ogId=10053[/i]

PostPosted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:48 am
by droid_ca
I'm personaly going to use plywood with titebond 3 for gluing seems to me it'll be stronger

PostPosted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:40 am
by Steve_Cox
Deryk,

My opinion about plywood is it isn't so much what they call it, it is more about quality. With better quality you get more plys and less voids. Voids seem to be detrimental to the longevity of what you build, especially if you torture the plywood into curved shapes. My opinion also is to use copious amounts of epoxy products to encapsulate the plywood focusing especially on the end grains. Even if you are building economically use the best plywood you can possibly find. I have seen many tiny trailers that are falling apart after only a year or less use. Since you're a pirate, build it like a boat, you can't go wrong. 8)

PostPosted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:53 am
by Deryk the Pirate
Ok thanks Steve.... yeah the plywoods are all graded, havent seen lauan graded at HD. I do want to go the epoxy route. Im familiar with CPES because my last boat a 1969 Morgan 34, beautifally made boat with all the deck fittings were all areas of solid glass. An idiot former owner put a hook in to hold the anchor chain just drilled a hole and screwed it in and water got in and had a nice wet core area. The CPES did a great job of solvin the problem and the deck never bowed again.

Anyone here with experience useing CPES and another epoxy product? I have another epoxy that I got for an issue with my curent boat thats a thinner epoxy that will cure in a wet environment and remains a little more flexible then how most epoxy would cure.