PANELING- ASH, Birch Veneer and Laminated Panels

$66 a panel if you order 15-29 panels, way over priced even with quantity discount, and it's 1/4 thick, just an FYI 1/4" is a very common size but not the size you need for restoration, 1/8" is what you need. I can get 1/4 birch plywood for $25 a sheet, ash is more but not that much.

I received my samples from this company.  They look really nice.  The birch is a couple of mm thicker than the ash. 

Birch on left, ash on right





I do not believe either would bend easily but I do think the ash veneer would make a good wall panel replacement for those with ash.

Good question, Drake. This is the ONLY place I have found ash, period. The ash boring beetle has made ash a very scarce wood now.

Unfortunately you cannot get Ash veneer core plywood without going through a custom laminator, and then you'd have to meet minimum order limit usually an entire bunk/bundle (250-1000 sheets) depending on the company.


I however am going a different route on my Kenskill and making my own. I ordered Ash veneers, 1/8" lauan plywood and stupidly expensive commercial grade(not bought at any hardware store) 3M contact glue and doing it myself at a cost of $60 a sheet. I was going to keep it under wraps until I had made some but I'm waiting for the weather to get nicer before I start making them.

For the record Ash has become so hard to get for two reasons, not because of bugs but because of warranty issues with it. Old growth ash is fine but the stuff grown and harvested today doesn't have the tight growth rings and is prone to checking, esp veneer. the second reason is China, this is true for almost all of the hardwoods, China doesn't care, lumber suppliers are selling entire boat loads to them and they don't care what the species is, what the grade is, or how long it is. In the US we want it graded, we want it in certain lengths and select species, it is so much easier for the suppliers to send it to China then keep it here.

I get mine at local yard in Denver. My price is in the $45 a sheet range, but I'm an industrial client and I get better than retail pricing!