You may have been overwhelmed by uncertainty when you came across the terms plyboard and plywood as you were gathering information about the materials that you would need for a DIY project. That uncertainty may have been because you didn't know how plyboard differed from plywood. This article discusses some of the differences between those two materials. Use this information to select the right engineered timber product for your DIY project.

The Production Process

Plywood is made by peeling several layers from a log. The layers (veneers) are then joined together using glue. The glued veneers are then dried under high-pressure conditions so that the individual layers can no longer be separated from each other easily.

The process of making plyboard differs from the process of making plywood because plyboards are made from chips of wood instead of veneers. Those chips are joined using glue inside a timber frame. The chips in plyboard can easily disintegrate if the integrity of the glue joining them is affected, such as by immersion in water. You should therefore buy plywood if your project requires a material with superior structural strength.

Weight

Plywood tends to be heavier than plyboard of a similar gauge. This is because the particles in plywood are more densely packed since the material is made from separate veneers joined together. Plyboard is lighter because the chips of wood from which it is made cannot be packed as densely as the particles in a veneer. It may therefore be better for you to buy plyboard in case weight is an issue in your project.

Quality of Raw Materials

Plywood is made from specially selected wood or tree logs. Manufacturing plyboard doesn't require one to select the trees from which chips are obtained. Consequently, it is possible to have a plyboard that is made from different types and ages of tree logs. This use of different raw materials makes plyboard to be more affordable than plywood. You should therefore buy plyboard in case you are working with a limited budget.  

Edge Appearance

You will see layers of wood when you look closely at the edge of a piece of plywood. However, a close look at plyboard will reveal that it is made from solid wood. Buy plyboard in case edge quality is important in the products that you would like to make.

As you can see, plyboard differs from plywood in many respects. Talk to a plyboard distributor for additional help in case you are still undecided about the right material to use after reading the information above.