Difference between Softwood and Hardwood Plywood
Key points of manufacturing process
Veneer processing: Precise cutting of hardwood logs, strict drying control to prevent deformation.
Gluing technology: Use phenolic resin (outdoor) or urea-formaldehyde resin (indoor), high temperature and high pressure molding to ensure bonding strength.
Physical Properties
Strength and Weight: hardwood plywood is generally stronger and heavier than softwood plywood, offering better resistance to wear and impact.
Stability: While both plywood types offer good dimensional stability, hardwood plywood may offer better stability in some cases due to its material properties.
Appearance: Hardwood plywood tends to have finer grain and richer color variations, making it suitable for applications that require an aesthetically pleasing surface, whereas softwood plywood may exhibit a more uniform but simple grain.
Application:
1.Typical applications of hardwood plywood
High quality furniture and cabinets
Hardwood plywood has beautiful surface texture (such as oak, walnut, cherry wood), which can be used directly as a decorative surface without veneer or paint. It is suitable for making furniture with high aesthetic requirements such as tables, cabinet doors, and bookshelves.
Interior decoration
It is used for decorative scenes such as wall panels, ceilings, and door panels that need to expose wood grain to enhance the texture of the space.
Floor and countertops
The high density and wear resistance make it suitable for making composite flooring or kitchen countertop base (waterproof treatment is required).
Musical instruments and crafts
Hardwood with good sound conductivity (such as birch) is used for musical instruments (guitars and piano parts); the fine processing characteristics are suitable for carving and model making.
Ship and vehicle interiors
Some hardwood plywood (such as marine-grade birch plywood) is resistant to moisture and can be used for yacht interiors and RV decoration.
2.Typical applications of softwood plywood
Building structure support
Lightweight and low cost, widely used in hidden structures such as roof linings, wall panels, floor bases, or temporary building frames.
Packaging and transportation
Economical, used to make disposable or short-term packaging materials such as cargo boxes and pallets.
Construction site formwork
Pine or fir plywood is easy to process and reusable, and is often used as a formwork for concrete pouring.
Economic furniture
The surface is rough and needs to be veneered or painted. It is suitable for making hidden or low-load-bearing parts such as drawer bottoms and wardrobe backs.
Choices for special scenarios
Wet environments
Hardwood plywood (such as waterproof birch plywood) can be used directly for bathroom cabinets and outdoor furniture.
Softwood plywood needs to be treated with antiseptics (such as phenolic resin coating) before it can be used outdoors (such as garden fences).
Load-bearing requirements
Hardwood plywood is used for high-load-bearing scenarios such as shelf shelves and stair treads.
Softwood plywood is suitable for light shelves or temporary support structures.
Acoustic properties
Hardwood plywood (such as maple) is used for musical instruments and studio sound insulation.
Softwood plywood has a weaker sound insulation effect due to its low density.
Wood is usually classified as softwood or hardwood.
Softwood trees are evergreen or needle-bearing suchas pine, redwood, cedar, cypress, and hemlock. Softwood refers to wood cut from trees belonging to gymnosperms.Though softwood and hardwood are not divided by their weight or density, softwood is generally less dense than hardwood . Softwood has good mechanical Properties and is easy to saw, plan, bore, nail. In fact all the wood framing in today’s houses is derived from softwood trees, because hardwood trees are slower growing than softwood trees, so hardwood lumber tends to cost more.
Hardwood trees are deciduous, meaning broad-leafed. As the name implies, hardwoods are usually harder than softwoods—but not always. Because of hardwood with attractive coloring and grain, it widely used in the furniture, flooring, doors, trim, and cabinetry.