If anyone has tried it I’d be interested in hearing what you think.
17 Likes
Mdf core plywood. Not my preference.
8 Likes
I’ve used True Flat and it cuts easier than most MDF core materials. I am not a huge fan of the shiny finishes on Maple or Walnut, but the Linen is my go to right now for ornaments and other items.
15 Likes
The linen one looks pretty cool!
7 Likes
That looks like a very interesting option.
5 Likes
Interesting.
Always more to explore.
1 Like
I accidentally ordered this from two different stores that “now carry finished plywood”. What I got from both was TruFlat. A lot of laser material suppliers have apparently been talked into carrying this. Another supplier I’ve used posted on Facebook that they were approached, evaluated it, and chose not to carry it.
The TruFlat Maple I tried just doesn’t look right to me. It looks like a printed picture of maple rather than maple veneer, yet I find it hard to capture that in photos. I think it may be UV printed MDF that they’re trying to pass off as traditional plywood. The front of this is TruFlat:
The other clue that it’s not real veneer is that the faces don’t appear to have any thickness when viewed from the edge…
If printed MDF is what you were looking for, then it’s great for that I guess. Cuts easy, engraves nice and dark like MDF should. Smokey Hill Designs has their “eco” wood line which is also printed faux plywoods on MDF for a bit cheaper than this, but that’s a killer price for sheet material from JPP. They’re rarely the cheapest.
P.S. Just looked at the MSDS linked on the JPP site and it’s from a company that produces UV inks, among other things.
9 Likes
I’ve used a lot of TruFlat for interior support structures in commercial projects – things that won’t generally show from the outside, but you still want them to look a bit better than unfinished MDF.
Recently I made a series of working pin-display carousels for our youkai-themed Pintopia project. (Pin cards not shown; they slot into the grooves in front of the mirrors.)
Each carousel is a mix of MDF, TruFlat, Proofgrade maple ply, and acrylic. The base, where the bearing is mounted, is not visible and is the only place I used unfinished MDF. To keep costs down, I used TruFlat for any of the parts that didn’t have to be engraved with a design, because TF costs about $5.50/sheet compared to four times that for PG. Here, the decorative outer panels (with the fans) are PG maple plywood, while the roof they’re slotted into is TruFlat:
TruFlat looks OK from a distance, but it lacks the luster and texture of real wood. Here is PG walnut next to walnut-finish TF:
TF does not engrave well at all; however, it does look OK scored. I labeled each piece with a letter for easier assembly (each carousel was shipped flat and came with IKEA-type instructions):
The other big thing to keep in mind is that TruFlat is just slightly thinner than Proofgrade materials, which wreaked absolute havoc with my designs when I was prototyping with one material (junky plywood; plain MDF) and then trying to transition the SVGs for the final materials. SO MUCH time spent manually resizing every tab slot. T_T
Apart from that, it behaves like MDF. It’s dirty to cut and can scorch if you’re not careful. But it’s vastly cheaper than pretty woods, so for interior supports or merch display racks or things where you don’t really care if it’s beautiful as long as it looks okay and does the job, it’s a slightly nicer alternative to plain MDF.
9 Likes
That’s a fabulous review - especially the side-by-side shot! Thank you.
4 Likes
It certainly looks like a useful material, even if it’s not fit for every purpose.
3 Likes
I use the True Flat Linen for a lot of projects, love it and it always gets compliments!
8 Likes