What is phenolic plywood?
In concrete formwork, phenolic plywood is a panel with a phenolic film face pressed onto a wood-veneer core. Crews pour against that face, strip the sheet, and reuse it across a programme when bond class, thickness, and edge care match the drawing. Retail Baltic birch craft sheets sold for CNC jigs also get labelled phenolic — that is a different product. Spec face film, core bond, size, and reuse as up to N before you compare mill packs to hobby SKUs.
What bond class is phenolic plywood — EN 314 vs EN 636?
Write the glue class, not the film colour. EN 314-2 Class 3 / EN 636-3 is PF (phenol-formaldehyde) WBP for exterior formwork. EN 636-2 / Class 2 is MUF. A phenolic face film over an MUF core stays Class 2 even when the face looks the same. On Vinawood’s ladder only Pro Form, Pro Form Lite, and the HDO range take Class 3 writing.
Is phenolic plywood the same as film faced plywood?
In export formwork RFQs the two names usually point at the same family: a phenolic film face on a hardwood core for concrete. Buyers still must separate face film from core bond, and film-faced kraft gsm from HDO fibre overlay. Vinawood maps that family to Form Basic / Form Extra (MUF Class 2), Pro Form Lite / Pro Form (PF Class 3), and the HDO range — not to DIY birch craft sheets.
Is phenolic plywood waterproof?
No. Call it water-resistant / WBP, not waterproof. A PF core at EN 314-2 Class 3 survives the boil test, and the phenolic face sheds wet concrete, but cut edges still take water. Factory-sealed edges and resealing after every site cut are what keep reuse from collapsing on the job.
Which Vinawood grades are phenolic Class 3?
Only Pro Form, Pro Form Lite, and the HDO range are phenolic on both film and bond (EN 314-2 / EN 636-3 Class 3). Form Extra carries a phenolic face over Superior Glue MUF at EN 636-2 — not Class 3. HDO Basic is up to 10; HDO Premium / Premium HD up to 20 — never quote 30. P-Form is polypropylene, not Pro Form.
Phenolic plywood vs HDO plywood for concrete forms?
HDO is the North American fair-face overlay: a dense phenolic fibre face. Film-faced phenolic uses a gsm paper film instead. Both can be Class 3 when the core bond is PF, but they are not interchangeable line for line on an RFQ. Choose by reuse target, surface finish, and mill documents — not by DIY sheet SKUs or false 100-pour claims.
