Plywood is a composite material,
although we often consider it as a traditional working material. It
is composed of individual plies / veneers of wood. It is very
strong due to the way the plies are put together. The grain of each
ply is positioned at ninety degrees to the pieces of ply above and
below it. The plies are glued together with synthetic resin, making
a very strong composite material. Furthermore, plywood is usually
constructed so that an odd number of plies are used. Plywood is
less likely to warp or split, due to this
construction. Manmade boards of this type are
supplied in a range of sizes and thicknesses. This is an advantage
compared to natural woods, as manmade boards can be manufactured so
that they are extremely wide. This makes plywood a popular material
in the construction industry.
