Flexible (Bendy) Plywood

Specification

Everything published for this product. Anything not listed here is not published — ask and we will confirm it for the unit you are buying.

Marine, film-faced, commercial or flexible?

Four different boards sold under one word. MARINE is WBP phenolic bonded right through with a void-free core, for anything that gets wet. FILM-FACED (shuttering) is a WBP board with a phenolic film on both faces, bought to strike concrete and be used again. COMMERCIAL is an MR-bonded interior board for carpentry and fit-out. FLEXIBLE — this page — has its veneers running the same way instead of crossing, so it bends. If the work is concrete, film-faced; if it gets wet, marine; if it is flat dry interior work, commercial; if it curves, flexible.

What makes it bend

Ordinary plywood is stiff because every ply is laid at ninety degrees to the one below it. This is laid up the other way — the veneers run in the same direction, commonly two faces of a low-density species with parallel grain over a thin inner core — so across one axis there is almost no cross-ply restraint and the sheet can be pulled round a curve by hand. The core species are chosen to be light and open-grained: ceiba (also sold as fuma or fromager), paricá, okoume and poplar.

Long grain or cross grain — get this right on the order

LONG GRAIN, also called column wrap: the grain runs the 2440 mm length, so the sheet bends across its 1220 mm width. That is the one for wrapping a column or any feature taller than it is wide. CROSS GRAIN, also called barrel wrap: the grain runs the 1220 mm width, so the sheet bends along its 2440 mm length. That is the one for a curved wall, a barrel-vault ceiling or any long run. A sheet only bends its designed way — the other direction is several times stiffer — so tell us which when you enquire, and if you are unsure send the drawing and we will work it out with you.

Bending radius — why we will not print one number

Published minimums for the same thickness differ by up to five times between manufacturers. For a 5 mm sheet one UK supplier table gives about 50 mm, European product data about 80 mm, and a widely quoted trade guide about 250 mm; that guide puts 3 mm at about 150 mm and 8–9 mm at about 400–450 mm, and roughly triples all of them for bending the wrong way. The spread is real — it follows the species, the layup and the grain direction — so treat any published figure as indicative, test-bend a sheet from the actual batch before you cut the job, and for the tightest curves laminate two thin sheets over a former rather than forcing one thick one.

Standard size

1220 × 2440 mm (4 × 8 ft) sheets · 2.98 m² each · 336 sheets to 1,000 m².

Thicknesses

3, 5, 8 and 12 mm. 5 mm is the usual choice for column cladding and curved linings; 3 mm for the tightest radii and for laminating in pairs; 8 and 12 mm where the curve is gentle and the face has to stay fair between widely spaced ribs.

Interior, and not structural

Bonded with interior/MR adhesive and sold for internal use. It is not a wet-area or external board, and it is not a load-bearing one — it is a surface skin over a frame, a former or ribs, and it does not replace structural plywood in a framed assembly.

How it is fixed and finished

One skin over ribs or a former for a gentle curve; two layers glued and clamped or strapped over a former to lock a permanent, stiffer curve — that is also the way to beat a radius a single sheet will not take. Both faces are smooth and sanded, ready for laminate, veneer or paint.

What it is for

Curved wall and ceiling features, column and pillar cladding, arches and vaults, curved reception desks and counters, curved cabinet and wardrobe sides, retail, exhibition and shopfitting work.

Weight

Light for its thickness — the core species are deliberately low density — so a sheet is comfortably a one-man lift and it machines and transports easily.