The glued panel is a universal material that consists of 100% wood.
These are lamellas glued together (narrow bars with a width of 20 mm to 100 mm). Furniture panels are used for countertops, steps, window sills, decoration, etc.
Many woodworkers love this material because it saves time and is a factual finding for DIY enthusiasts.
In this article, we share 10 main features of glued panels that you need to pay attention to.
1. Select the type of wood based on the needs of your project.
Glued panels are produced from almost all possible types of wood, so the choice is vast:
For structural elements, you will choose pine; for the interior - oak and beech. If you need maximum strength, take ash; if you create something unique, walnut is the best option.
An example of a walnut glued panel
2. Select the lamella of the furniture panel
Wood glued panels often come in two types - solid and fingerjoint.
Fingejoint panels consist of a large number of elements that are glued together at the sides and ends; it looks like parquet. Such a shield is considered optimal for inexpensive stairs, as well as tabletops, where special strength is needed, which is created by a large number of gluings. The solid-lamella board is glued only on the sides; it looks more like solid wood. It is ideal for window sills; its appearance is familiar on steps.
An example of a glued panel made of finger-jointed oak
3. Pay attention to the thickness
Wooden panels are made in thicknesses of 12, 16 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, and 40 mm. 40 mm looks massive and solid; such a shield is heavy. 20mm has a reasonably thin appearance. 30mm is the optimal thickness for most projects; it looks both thick and organic. 12 and 16 mm are used for special situations.
The photo shows packs combined of two panels 20 mm thick
4. Don't avoid the opportunity to save on thickness
Each manufacturer sifts out the material - after it, a glued panel with a thickness of 18 mm, 19 mm, 27 mm, 38 mm appears. These boards are very similar to the original ones (20 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm) but are 10% cheaper. Because the cost of a furniture board is always calculated based on the cubic capacity of the sheet.
Wide selection = many sizes = savings on waste
5. Decide on quality
There are infinite quality types of furniture panels: AA, AB, BB, AC, BC, CC, and Rustic. This is the most common gradation, but there are others. If the most important thing for you is the appearance of the board without knots and sapwood on both sides, you need AA and AB. If you don't mind small knots, you can take BB. If you are okay with sapwood, you can pay attention to AC and BC. In "Rustic" quality, there is often no sapwood, but there are many knots, the most saturated type of wood.
This is what rustic oak looks like
6. Minimize waste
Any furniture panel can be cut into the number of parts you need. Thus, there is often no need to take several small panels - you can take one large one and cut it into the required dimensions. This is especially true for fingerjoint panels because their price per cubic meter does not change depending on the length.
The more panel area you use, the less wood will go to waste.
Large glued panel made of ash, cut into two parts
7. Minimize waste, part 2
Remember about another wonderful property of furniture board - it can be glued together. Glueing has its aspects - it can only be in width, that is, only between the side parts. However, this is often enough to use the purchased material more effectively.
This is what glueing elements together look like
8. Pay attention to the shape of the shield when purchasing
The shield should be even and smooth, without bends. Using a "banana" or "boomerang" shaped shield is problematic, especially if you do not have special equipment to correct the shape.
If there are no gaps between the shields in a stack, then they are of the correct shape
9. Consider slats when purchasing
Lamellas are small sticks of wood that create a furniture panel and must be perfectly glued together. Otherwise, the shield may crack during processing.
Take a closer look at the glueing areas - no gaps should be there.
Selection of lamellas for glueing together. Ideal lamellas and good gluing are the keys to the reliability of the glued wood panel
10. Remember that furniture panels are always offered in "black sizes."
The actual panel is always a few millimetres larger than the size on the price list. These additional millimetres are given for possible waste when formatting into a perfectly flat, rectangular shape.
Formatting the furniture board to the ideal, “clean size”
Glued panels is the central area of Stragendo OU. We will happily select the needed materials and calculate your project based on our stock. If you need additional processing, we will cut it to your size, glue it, sand it and cover it to your order.