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Veneer Core

Columbia Forest Products is North America’s leading producer of veneer core hardwood plywood, manufacturing fine decorative plywood products and servicing the US and Canada for more than 50 years.

General Veneer Core Attributes

Made with alternating veneer inner plies. In North America, the innerply species are usually softwood (fir or pine) on the west coast and poplar or aspen on the east coast. Veneer core panels are relatively light in comparison with composite panels, typically weighing about 70 lbs. per 3/4″ panel. [Not a valid template] Veneer core offers great strength and stability with better spanning properties than either PBC or MDF. Veneer core does have a wider variance in thickness in comparison with highly engineered PBC or MDF. Additionally, this core is not as forgiving with today’s thinner face veneers; varying degrees of core transfer is possible depending on the surface veneer or core construction specified. For high-end, plain sliced woods, standard or premium twostep constructions are recommended to alleviate core telegraphing.

Columbia’s 100% veneer core products offer a variety of panel construction options to satisfy a range of quality and price point needs as directed by a specific application:

 

Standard One-Step

Comprised of 100% regional species core* (aspen, poplar or fir, depending on your region) in a line-by-line construction. This traditional veneer core construction is predominantly used for commodity rotary panels and is suitable for use with faces of dark colored commodity sliced woods such as red oak or cherry. Standard one-step veneer core construction is a retail/do-it-yourself favorite.

Premium One-Step

Combination of regional species core* with smooth ANSI-HP-1 J-grade outer crossbands selected for uniform color and surface smoothness next to the face and back, assembled in a line-by-line construction. Recommended for value-priced UV Wood panels, and suitable for use with faces of lighter-colored sliced woods, sap birch and sap rotary maple unfinished panels as well as high-grade rotary and dark sliced UV Wood panels. Available at additional upcharge. Ask your Columbia representative for details.

Standard Two-Step

Platforms comprised of 100% regional species core* are sanded before they are assembled with the face and back. Pre-sanding gives two-step panels a tighter thickness tolerance than one-step. Suitable for use with faces of darker premium sliced woods where color variation from outer crossbands is not a concern, such as cherry, alder, red oak, walnut and hickory. Works well for high-grade rotary and dark sliced UV Wood panels.

Premium Two-Step

Platforms comprised of the regional species core* with J-grade outer crossbands are selected for uniform color and surface smoothness and then sanded before they are assembled with the face and back. Pre-sanding gives two-step panels a tighter thickness tolerance than one-step, outperforming HPVA industry standards. Suitable for use with faces of lighter-colored premium sliced woods such as high-end maple, anigre, sycamore and sap birch. The uniformity of these premium panels ensures better fitting components and even finish applications. core_regions_2*The platform and core species is determined by the types of trees that grow in the region of manufacture. The regional species core choices will be either fir or pine cores in western US and Canada, aspen cores in northern US and Canada as well as parts of the central US, and poplar cores will be used in the south and eastern US (click on map to enlarge). Ask your Columbia representative from which regional mill your product will ship. Mill locations.

Composite and Imported Veneer Core Platforms

core_euro_2Multi-Layered Panels

This is a specialty all hardwood “European style” high plycount birch veneer core blank. This core is often used for decorative applications where the panel edge is revealed. Applications include drawer sides, children’s furniture, fixture components, and other exposed core profile applications. Many of the multi-layered panels on the market today have added urea formaldehyde. Columbia’s Europly PLUS uses a phenolic bonded platform to assure a no-added formaldehyde (NAUF) panel end result.

 

 

Commonly Used Core Applications

Application Veneer Core PBC MDF Combi-Core
Bookcases icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Desk Sides icon_check     icon_check
Desk Tops   icon_check icon_check  
Drawer Sides and Bottoms icon_check   icon_check icon_check
Furniture Structure icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Furniture Tops   icon_check icon_check icon_check
Kitchen Cabinet Boxes icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Kitchen Cabinet Doors     icon_check  
Kitchen Cabinet Door Inserts (1/4″) icon_check icon_check icon_check  
Media Centers icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Plaques     icon_check  
Shelving icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Store Fixtures icon_check icon_check icon_check icon_check
Utility/Storage Cabinetry icon_check      
Wall Paneling, High End (>1/4″)   icon_check icon_check icon_check
Wall Paneling, Budget (1/4″) icon_check