I’m looking for an affordable, dimensionally-stable wood product that I can use for notebook covers. Proofgrade cherry has the right look but 1/8" is a little thicker than I would like. Has anyone found something similar, but thinner?
It’s really tough to produce anything stable and thinner. Baltic Birch and Proofgrade only go down to 1/8" as you can still get three layers of very thin veneer together, which is the minimum for a stable product.
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There are “hobby” grade plywood’s that are thinner but they are a)very expensive, and b) hard to cut.
I’ve tried some 5/32" and it took far more to cut through it than regular 1/8" Baltic birch.
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One thing I have done for engraved wood proposal covers (not on the GF, but same method applies) is to adhere veneer to illustration board and engrave/cut that.
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That is some good thinking. There are SO many good materials out there, I have only tried a good sampling.
When you say illustration board, this is all paper? Like poster board but thicker?
Looks promising, thanks. I have the same question about “illustration board.”
Yes. Illustration board is very similar to mat board for framing. Which would also work well.
Any art supply store will carry illustration board.
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Looks promising, thank you.
I would be cautious with 1/16" as a cover to a notebook. I would worry about structural integrity along the grain. That was exactly what led me to mount veneer to illustration board. If you want wood on both sides, you might consider two pieces of veneer mounted on both sides of heavy card stock. That would let the card stock give you the structural integrity while having wood on both sides.
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Good to hear, thanks. I will definitely investigate a veneer sandwich for this purpose.
The thin plywood sold as small sheets in hobby stores has a waterproof and heat resistent glue and is sometimes called aircraft plywood. However,it can only be used in full scale airplanes when it is certified and even more expensive. This glue system is what makes it difficult to cut with a laser.
I have been corresponding with Koskisen about their plywood. They also make the 3 mm and 6 mm in interior glue which can be cut with a laser.They have only one distributor in the US. Here is a brochure about the thinner sizes they have
https://www.koskisen.com/file/koskiflex/?download&version=EN
Sizes down to 0.4 mm.
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Thanks, I’ll look at them too.
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