Todd Fatheree wrote:

"Dan White" wrote in message
...
I know, a basic question. I'm not much of a woodworker, but was curious
about when plywood started to be accepted in high end furniture making
(assuming it is). Now I guess guys like Duncan Pfyfe and Lannuier used
veneers (I think) but I don't think they used plywood. Did they just
select
the best boards they could find? As a layman I always thought plywood
was cheap crap made to look like the real thing, but now I see it appears
that plywood is preferred to solid board, or is that just due to cost and
stability of the wood?

If money and supply were no option, as it shouldn't be on high end stuff,
would you still prefer a plywood veneer?

thanks,
dwhite

IMHO, I don't think ply has a place in "high end furniture". But then, my
definition of high end furniture might differ from someone else's. For
those who tend to disagree, I would ask them how many have made what they
consider to be a fine quality table top from plywood, because that would
be the perfect example of an application where something large, flat, and
dimensionally stable is desirable.

The trouble with ply as a tabletop is twofold. First you have to edge it
with something and that something is going to be visible and affect the
design. Second, unless it's made from all hardwood plies it's going to
ding easily even through the veneer. A panel in a door where the edges are
concealed by the rail and stile would IMO be a more appropriate use.

If you want to take it to an extreme,
I took a couple of woodworking classes here in Chicago and the head of the
operation told me that, unlike solid wood, plywood doesn't have a "soul".
Now, I'm not ready to go quite that far, but I don't use it in anything I
consider to be high end.

todd

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