Exotic plywood

[jim king]

I don´t know just where to post this so I guess General covers it all.  We have some of what I think is nice looking plywood here and I am wonderning if we would face the plywood with our exotics to compliment our lumber sales of the same species if there would be a market.

Would people buy exotic wood wood and plywood for kitchens etc  ?  Or would it be out of the norm and everyone would stay with oak or domestic wood.

Anythoughts or ideas would be appreciated.  I have spent a couple of hours on Google and found basicly nothing except a couple of people selling curly maple as exotic and very expensive..  Attached are a couple of photos of 3/4 inch 9 ply that we use for crating.  I see a lot of complaints about plywood on various sites and am curious what the reality really is.

[WDH]

Plywood from Brazil is readily available at Home Depot here in the states.  A lot of chinese plywood is imported for the cabinet business.  Is this what you mean by exotic plywood?

[Burlkraft]

Jim,
I would want exotic cabinets in my house....but I'm a wood guy...

I watched as curly maple cabinets got painted white...... >:( >:( >:(

So there's no accounting for taste. We are puting on an addition and I just went through the cabinet process. I ended up going with a man out of Plainfield that builds custom cabinets because I could walk to his cherry and hickory inventory and pick all my boards.... ;D ;D ;D

You would think that with a quality board...and exotic veneer it would be wanted in most high end homes....but that's just my opinion....

[SwampDonkey]

I haven't seen any foreign plywood here, or aspenite, or OSB. It's all Canadian stamped. Maybe I'll browse around a couple spots this week to see if that has changed.

Most new homes here are gypsum and plastered and pine trim. However, mom's fireplace mantle is yellow birch and her cupboards are birds eye maple.

[Tom]

The actual reality, in my opinion, is marketing.  If you think something is serviceable or pretty and don't put it in front of potential customers, you won't sell any of it.   If you do put it in front of potential customers and don't say anything, you are flipping a coin that is facing a head-wind. Even if it comes up "heads", It may be blown into weeds and not seen.

You have to get out there from the "get-go" and tout your product.  Tell people about it.  Convince them of its good points.  Find a price that encourages its perpetual use.

We have a fungus that makes pine unsellable.  You know it as Blue-Stain.  It doesn't hurt the strength, just the looks.  It was used by a cult following who appreciated the figure, but one day some folks decided to make it special.  It is now named, by those marketeers, Denim Pine and it is found in some of the most expensive homes in the country.

Did you know that loggers, as a result of lumber companies trying to produce "the perfect product", will leave crotches, cat-faces and stumps in the woods to rot?  There is still a cult following of "crotch wood" because it produces beautiful grain figure.  The same happens with cat-faces and stumps if someone takes the time to produce the lumber and sell the product.  We still have, for some unforeseen reason, sawyers who publicly run down these woods and cut their own throats with their actions.   Perhaps it's to make themselves look knowledgeable, or perhaps they are looking for an excuse to not spend the extra time it takes to produce the product.  Anyway, they are losing out on a saleable product that could be placed in high demand and secure large profits.

There was a time when the butcher practically gave away chicken wings, Gizzards, Livers and feet.  Then a Resturant took advantage of the low price and high availability to begin marketing "Buffalo Wings".  Now try to get a butcher to give you some. :D

We used to eat Pork neck bones and back bones in a rice dish.  The bones and rice were cheap and you could fill your stomach on just a few pennies.  Then the word got out and "Soul food" became popular.  You must pay a pretty good price for neck bones now.

The reason these things became merchantable is because someone stuck there neck out and marketed them.

If you try hard enough, you can sell anything.

If you are smart, you will name it something that makes you the "owner".   Having the only supply of a product that is selling like hotcakes is an enviable position.  Wouldn't  you like to have been  the soul producer of a piece of old garden hose that had its ends joined and became the Hula Hoop?

There was a lot of money made on Pet rocks too.

I'd say, if your wood is marketable, market it.  If you want it to be a cabinet wood, begin the touting of the product as soon as you can and have the supply tied up when the world begins to ask for it.

You're dad-gummed-right!   Plywood faced with your exotics is marketable. It's just that you are the one who has to convince the world that it is the prettiest stuff they have ever seen.

[jim king]

WDH:  Here are some samples of the faces we would put on the plywood as it would match our lumber.

[sawguy21]

Jim my mouth is watering looking at that wood. WOW. Cabinets or a feature wall with that figure would be stunning. Could you export enough to get a wholesaler interested? I bet a display at a home show would gather a lot of lookers and buyers.

[sprucebunny]

There seems to be a large demand for exotic woods in the high end yacht market. I know that many of the lumber dealers that cater to ship building stock exotic plywoods. Check Wooden Boat magazine (if you can find one) for the ads.

That stack of plywood sure is handsome. Haven't seen too many bundles looking that neat and flat ...

[woody1]

We sell several grades of plywood. We sell an ac grade import for around $38., oak $59., birch $55., ac pine $34., if you could get a good product in that price range you are going to sell alot of it.

[JimBuis]

I think starting with the high end housing market would be a good target for such plywood.

A friend of mine used to specialize in painting high end houses. He wasn't an ordinary painter however. He specialized in faux painting. For example, he went into one client's  palatial home in the St. Louis area and the lady took him to a cavernous room that was totally empty but for a large leather couch. He asked her what else was going to be in the room when it was finished? She said nothing except for what painting he was about to do. She paid him thousands of dollars to do whatever painting he chose to do in that room with no guidance from her.

He painted one entire wall at the end of that room with a technique to look as if it was covered with the same leather as the couch. She was very pleased and he got paid what would be a good month's wages for his efforts and for only a week's work.

He now works at a high end furniture store. He now specializes in doing the entire interior of homes for customers, everything from floor and wall coverings to every piece of furniture. Every customer wants his or her home to be unique and they have little or no concern about the cost.

If you can get into that sort of market with plywoods that no one else can offer, I think you'd be off to a good start.

Jim

[Tom]

Yes, I agree with Jim.  But, you should come up with a name for the wood options that could be attached to its species label like "South American Veneer Exotics".  The yuppee population that makes up the "new money" market of today loves to be a part of anti-global-warming/protector of forests, and identified as one of the "good guys".  It doesn't matter whether they understand what it is that they have joined, as long as it fits their idea of perpetuating the life on the planet.  In this case your acronymn would be "SAVE".  They like those kinds of words and it would make marketing easier.

[JimBuis]

Tom, that's good. Maybe make up a logo that incorporates the slogan approach. A globe with a banner wrapping around it that says SAVE the planet plywood, "South American Veneer Exotics".

That might be a bit over the top, but not too far over. If you find the right combination as Tom suggests. It'd help.  Folks like to think they are helping the environment along with buying a unique product.

Jim

[jim king]

The name we are currently using is "ELEGANCE IN EXOTICS".  How does that ring ?¿  We are also doing an animal rescue program in cooperation with the DNR of Peru that could be part of the promotion plus our save the forest caveman logging methods that could be promoted.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=24456.0

www.exoticwoodworld.com

[Tom]

Sounds quite sophisticated, but like Rap, you can't whistle it.  :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

Ummm,  ;D  ;) I haven't seen many of them exotic southern species before around here. Although we do have a few imports and transplants from other outside our realm. The local indigenous species don't seem to be real concerned as long as they are in some kind of containment that traps sufficient warm air to keep from perishing in the cold months of winter.  ;D But seriously, most folks here with money are retirees and if they want something, they buy it with little concern for where it came from. I guess it's because the economy here is more resource based and they know where they made their money. ;) Lobbyists outside of industry giants don't have much clout here and soon dissolve into the woodwork. I've seen a few small demonstrations over the years that self imploded, disappeared and were forgotten in no time. There are a couple of federations here, one for woodlot owners, one for farmers and most of the time their words fall on deaf ears. 'Just another whining farmer' is a common phrase from the general public. Afterall, there must be something genetic in descendants of Loyalists, since the Maritimes have mostly meek and passive folk and don't like change. ;)

[jim king]

Tom:  My bloodline is German, no rap, plus I am old . Just learned how to download 50´s and 60´s music..  Yes we can do about 1000 cubic meters a month if a distributor was interested.  I was thinking of the big boats as when I was young I worked for Larson Boats in Minnesota and all we had to design with was teak.

[Michigan Mike]

Jim its not a big market but look up stich and glue kayaks. They will want marine type plywood. The thickness will be 1/4 or less or the metric equivelent . The company names that come to mind are Chesapeak  light Craft, Pygmy and Waters dancing. These companys mainly sell kayak kits. The people that buy these kits tend to be environmentaly concious but also appreciative of fine woodwork and exotic woods. Good luck with this if I build another kayak I sure would like the oportunity  to buy a piece of exotic ply for my top deck.

[Quartlow]

I don't think Home depot is your market. The one here most of the plywood is Chinese and not worth a hoot.
Judging from the picture your crate plywood is nicer than than HD's oak plywood.

Around here if you want good cabinet grade plywood we have to go Baird Brothers Sawmill. No sawmill there anymore but they do all  kinds of specialty stuff from moldings to doors. Walnut Cherry and Oak  ply starts out at around $60 a sheet for 1/4 inch. In this area if anyone could sell exotics it would be them.

If my wife had her way Cocabolo or bubinga cabinets would be her choice. Purpleheart is another I could see her picking out.

[TexasTimbers]

When I am in need of plywood for a finished piece or project I always reach for Baltic Birch. More plys, denser, no voids, flatter. American plywood, even AB and BC, stinks compared to Baltic Birch.

If you can match that quality with those exotic woods you can at least enter the market to compete. There is a limited number of species currently available like Jatoba, Apple, African Mahogany, Lyptus, Mango, Hickory,  etc.

Here is an informative link you may already be aware of as you may be a member. Hardwoodweb