ChromaPly is a color-dyed laminate that uses Grade A, Baltic Birch.  Why do we do use Grade A? Because you can’t get the best results from your laminate unless you start with the best materials. We spent a lot of time talking with customers to find out what problems they were having with laminates on a regular basis.   The last thing you want to do is spend hours of your time and money only to see a knot, a delamination, or chip out.  We set out to eliminate these problems along with many others.  That way you can spend more time producing great products, and less time starting over.   Learn more about ChromaPly at www.ckcomposites.com/chromaply/.

 

Hardwood Characteristics 

C-K Composites compared many species of hardwood for ChromaPly.  Every species of hardwood has unique traits.    And these traits determine how well the veneer can absorb dyes as well as resin.  What seems most interesting is that species of birch, for example, vary by location.  In other words, birch in the United States differs from birch in the Baltic region.  The color differs as well as density.  Domestic birch plywood typically uses yellow birch while Baltic Birch provides a nearly white, even tone.  All of these characteristics factor into why ChromaPly uses Baltic Birch.  And that is why our laminate performs so well for our customers.  More  information can be found here at www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/hardwood-anatomy/.

Processing Veneer to create laminate

We carefully process our veneer from the time it enters our facility until it leaves as a finished product . The first step for ChromaPly is to dye the veneer.  The appropriate dye along with very specific environmental contions are applied to the veneer to get full penetration of the dye into the veneer.  The veneer is then carefully dried to the desired moisture content (we shoot for 8-10%).  It then goes through our resin applicator and into the press.  The press uses a combination of pressure and heat to create an extremely strong bond.  And finally out comes ChromaPly! Stay posted as I get into more detail about ChromaPly.