DIYbanter - View Single Post - Is Plain/Flat Sawn Plywood Veneer Worth It?

-MIKE-

On 3/18/10 1:14 PM, wrote:
I don't think the striping problem depends on the way the wood is
sawn. In my kitchen they used flat sawn oak plywood for the doors and
you can clearly see dramatic contrasts in the color that result from
the book matching. The contrast is visible in the normal kitchen
lighting. I recently worked on a cabinet where when I went to
arrange the wood (quarter sawn cherry) I discovered that if I turned a
board end for end the color would change dramatically. To get the
colors to match I had to keep the boards oriented the same direction
they were in the tree. If I flipped one over (book match) I would get
a color contrast unless I also turned it end for end. I suspect that
all non-rotary plywood is book matched, so it'll all have this
problem.

The ray fleck pattern in quarter sawn cherry is really pretty. Do
they sell plywood with that kind of veneer on it? I'd probably favor
that over plain sawn cherry, though plain sawn cherry would look nice
too. Seems like quarter sawn without the ray fleck pattern wouldn't
be worth paying more for. If you were to choose maple I wouldn't see
any point in using quarter sawn. A note about maple, though: I got
some non-rotary maple plywood recently and it had dark blotches
(ambrosia?). Worked out fine in my project as a nice accent, but
might not be what you were hoping for in a set of kitchen doors.

Thanks for the insight. I'm not so concerned with the book-matching,
although if I have any control over picking, I'll definitely take what
you said into account.

The way I see it, at least flat sawn book-matched looks like wood...
looks like cut boards. I've seen solid panels doors that weren't
exactly color matched, you know?

And I haven't committed to any species, yet.

--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
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http://mikedrums.com

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