5 mm Flexible (Bendy) Plywood
1220 × 2440 mm sheet · 2.98 m² · 336 sheets per 1,000 m². The usual choice for column cladding and curved wall linings — enough body to stay fair between ribs and still tight in the bend. Say long grain (column wrap) or cross grain (barrel wrap) with the order. Plywood laid up to bend — the veneers run the same way instead of crossing, so a sheet pulls round a former by hand. For curved walls, column cladding, arches, ceiling features and curved joinery. Interior and non-structural, and it bends one way only: say long grain or cross grain when you order.
Published price
5 mm Flexible (Bendy) Plywood
Quoted on the day
Thickness, grain direction and quantity are all set by the curve you are building, so this is quoted against your drawing rather than listed per sheet.
One message, no form — we reply with the price.
Prices exclude 5% VAT and are subject to change. Bulk discounts available.
Delivered across all 7 Emirates. How delivery works
How many sheets, and which grain direction?
Enter the curve and the height. Get the sheet count and whether to order long grain or cross grain.
Test-bend a sheet from the actual batch before cutting. If it will not take your radius in one skin, laminate two thinner sheets over a former instead of forcing one.
You need
- Sheets to order — long grain (column wrap)6 sheets
- Curved face area14.4 m²
- Courses up the height1 course
How that was worked out
- Height 2.4 m is over 1.22 m, so the sheet stands on its long edge → long grain (column wrap)
- 6 m of curve + 15% = 6.9 m
- 6.9 m ÷ 1.22 m per sheet = 6 sheets per course
- 2.4 m ÷ 2.44 m per course = 1 course
- 6 × 1 = 6 sheets
This size
1220 × 2440 mm sheet · 2.98 m² · 336 sheets per 1,000 m². The usual choice for column cladding and curved wall linings — enough body to stay fair between ribs and still tight in the bend. Say long grain (column wrap) or cross grain (barrel wrap) with the order.
What this is
- Thickness
- 5 mm
- Sheet size
- 1220 × 2440 mm — 2.98 m² per sheet
- Per 100 m²
- 34 sheets
Taken from the product’s own name, converted where the unit differs, and from the standard where the range cites one. Tell us the application and we will confirm the exact item before you order.
Specification
- 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.
Not the right size?
Every option in the Flexible (Bendy) Plywood range. Tell us the quantity and all of them are quoted together.
Back to the full Flexible (Bendy) Plywood tableTechnical Procurement & Ordering Guides
3 drawings covering every answer we need to price Flexible (Bendy) Plywood — every figure comes from the price table above or from the published standard it is made to.
The sheet1220 × 2440 mm
1 of 3
Send us the size, wall and length — or send the drawing and we will read it off.
5 mm Flexible (Bendy) Plywood — questions we get asked
Anything not covered here, ask on WhatsApp — you will get a person, not a form reply.