All the prefinished maple plywood I got for my kitchen cabinets is finished on both sides. One side is much whiter than the other side on all of them. Both look good in my opinion. But which is considered the "show face" and why is one side darker than the other? do they tint one side and not the other?
Here's the same sheet in the same lighting showing the difference. Not sure if it matters, but the manufacturer's printing on the edges reads up with the darker colored side facing up.
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Haven't purchased any Maple ply in a while, but the Birch with two "good" sides is about $20 higher. For me, the lighter side would be the "good" side.
I'd call your supplier.
John
I’m gonna have to leave this decision up to LOML!
I did actually this afternoon and she kinda laughed and said good question - that for some reason the manufacturer tints one side and not the other, both are maple, but in the end - whichever side you prefer… both sides really do seem of equal quality (no voids or knots or bad seams) just a different color. I kinda like the choice and leaning to the lighter side now that I think about it.
The prefinished ply I use I get from Home Depot, and I suspect it's the same stuff (Columbia PureBond). I have never really paid attention to whether one side was lighter or darker. They are both definitely appearance grade and I don't recall putting a whole lot of thought into it. I would say use whatever you want or whatever looks best to you.
There are definitely two-sided plywoods where one face, while technically the correct species, is not really appearance grade. Some of the mahogany I have has one side with very narrow veneers (sometimes as little as six inches) with seams that don't match. The other side is a large rotary-cut flowing veneer.
Seems to me that tinting one side and not the other would just be a manufacturing complexity they wouldn't want to do. Regardless, I'd just use whatever side the boss wants.....can't go wrong with that choice. The syuff I've bought in the past may have had some slight color difference face to face, but never enough to make much difference.
The last I bought was the same way. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious the A side was the lighter side.
If yours isn't like that, I would use the lighter side to the inside.