A new blockboard from MAXI Plywood is offering a better alternative to conventional MDF and particleboard choices in veneering and laminate pressing applications.

MAXI Plywood’s lightweight Italian Poplar Blockboard is the ideal timber panel substrate for any commercially available veneer or laminate. The inherent stability and light weight of blockboard make it highly popular among high-end bespoke furniture manufacturers and designers.

For instance, Poplar Blockboard weighs 380-450kg/m³ – at nearly half the weight of MDF, blockboard is easier to handle, process and manoeuvre around the workshop, and does not impact hinges and hardware on completion of the project. Blockboard has a solid central core, which ensures good screw retention. The material also machines very well, making it ideal for joinery and cutting tenons, dominos or dowels. Additionally, Poplar timber glues well with all regular PVA types of glue.

Poplar Blockboard from MAXI Plywood is manufactured from plantation timber in Italy on modern machinery. Blockboard’s construction makes the timber panels more stable than plywood. The solid listels in the centre of the panel are covered with peeled veneer on either side, and variations of this construction can include double outer veneer (5-layer) for a more stable panel, double-core for thicker panels or MDF outer skins for paint finishes.