Author: dhhPanel

Product Feature: Products for Flightcases

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Did you know that we’re one of the leading suppliers of high-quality Birch Plywood to the Flightcase and Specialist Packaging sector? We stock a range of panel products that are eminently suitable for such demanding applications, such as Flightcases, including:

>> Riga Heksa Plus: Available in Black, Silver, Grey and Dark Brown 1220mm x 2440mm; in thicknesses of  6.5mm, 9mm and 12mm;

>> Riga Composite PPL: Available in Black or White 1220mm x 2440mm, with a tough Polypropylene overlay on one or both sides. Some larger 3050mm long panels are also available from stock, please ask for details.

We can also supply 9mm Riga and Koski Diamond boards; an established industry staple; and our old favourite ‘Riga Form’ – which is a tough, phenolic film-faced Birch plywood from Latvia, available in a variety of colours and sizes.

All products are FSC® certified from Latvia or Finland, and offer the best in sustainability. They are also now bonded with an ECOlogical natural, Lignin-based exterior adhesive to EN 314-2: Class 3. These boards have great strength-to-weight ratio, are of excellent structural quality,  and have good impact resistance – plus they also meet EN 13986 and comply with ISPM 15 packaging regulations.

Flightcases and road trunks have to be able to withstand the rigours of being on tour, and being constantly handled. By using robust, yet eco-friendly birch plywood you can be sure that the cases will offer the ultimate protection for your sound, light, music or specialist electronic equipment.

Looking for something more bespoke? We can also supply HPL laminated Birch plywood in 9mm and 12mm too, with over 100 colours available. If your clients need a specific colour case to match their brand, then we are able to help! – ask us for a quotation and we’ll get this sorted for you. Our HPL is available up to 3050mm in length, meaning that even the largest trunks can be catered for.

Want to know more? Give us a call on 01708 864245, email sales@dhhpanelproducts.co.uk – or head over to our dedicated Specialist Birch Plywood page for our full range of suitable products for Flightcases.

*Steph Plaster is one of our resident Technical Plywood Experts; and has a wealth of experience and knowledge around using Plywood for advanced applications.

Product Feature: Prefinished Birch Plywood

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Specifying ‘Prefinished’ European Birch Plywood can help save time, money and reduce waste!

In this era of increasing costs, it’s now more important than ever to find ways to save both time and money in the construction and joinery sectors. DHH Panel Products can help companies save ‘time and money’ as they offer a wide range of structural, high-quality, European (Latvian and Finnish) Birch plywood which is already prefinished with a decorative overlay.

By using a prefinished-board it can help reduce the need for priming, painting, laminating or lacquering and can save both time and additional costs. DHH also offer (made to order only) CNC-machined panels or components direct from plywood mills. Panels can be pre-drilled for example, meaning they are ready-to-use or fix, thus reducing overall installation time – another important factor when assessing material choice for a project.

Using overlaid/pre-finished panels means there is also less waste to dispose of (fewer empty paint tins, laminate off-cuts, empty cartridges etc.) as reducing waste on site or in the workshop assists with cutting costs and reduces the amount ultimately sent to landfill. By using ‘Prefinished Birch Plywood’ not only does it help save time and money, but it’s also an ‘eco-friendly’ material.

We source sustainable birch plywood from ‘Riga Wood’ in Latvia, which is bonded with an innovative, environmentally-sustainable adhesive, derived from Lignin, a naturally occurring strengthening substance found in all timber. Even in these more difficult times, DHH Panel Products has continued to look at ways to improve sustainability and were one of the first plywood importers to introduce this new adhesive as standard for its raw and overlaid birch plywood.

We also stock a range of ‘Pre-lacquered’ birch plywood which can be used for decorative wall panelling, kitchen carcasses, shelving, van-conversions, joinery and furniture and because it’s pre-lacquered at the mill in Latvia – all the hard work and preparation has been done, so boards only need cutting to size or CNC machining. It really can save a great deal of time and reduce waste-material – which is so important today (when construction costs are spiralling) as consideration for the environment must to be taken into account when looking at material specification options.

Other overlaid-birch panels stocked at DHH include ‘White Melamine-faced Birch Plywood’ and ‘Riga-Composite and Koski-Futura PPL’, a ‘Polypropylene-faced’ Birch plywood which can be used for different applications and offers the benefit of being ready-to-use without the inconvenience of needing to bond or paint it. White Melamine and PPL-coated birch plywood are suitable for interior joinery work, carcassing, furniture and offer the consumer robust, hygienic, but easy-to-clean surfaces.

These materials are also easy to machine and work, PPL birch for example, is suitable for CNC machining as it does not ‘chip’ or ‘break-out’ like some more brittle materials can. This can be of great benefit when machining multiple components as will help to reduce rejects and wasted panels. So prefinished birch plywood offers multiple benefits for the client, consumer and contractor and has the added benefit of being sourced from truly sustainable European forests, where forest management has been practised for well over one hundred years.

Prefinished, European Birch Plywood is the ideal option for demanding projects which require high-quality materials, but also have a commitment to being more environmentally-focused, as using this type of material can help to reduce waste, whilst also helping to save on time and cost.

Other prefinished birch plywood available from DHH Panels stock includes, Smooth Phenolic-film faced, Slip-resistant Mesh (Tex ) and Heksa Plus pattern phenolic, Grey Primed and bespoke items, such as CNC and painted panels are aslo available to order, MOQ’s may apply.

Feature Image: Example of ‘Riga Composite’ PPL and Aluminium options – available in a range of sizes and coloured overlays, some from stock, others available on request.

*Steph Plaster is one of our resident Technical Plywood Experts; and has a wealth of experience and knowledge around using Plywood for advanced applications.

Benefits of Using Wood in Construction

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As the planet enters an era of ecological uncertainty, the idea of using ‘renewables’ to prevent climate change continues to gain traction. From solar, wind, and even trees, there are many benefits from using renewable sources available for people to use as alternatives to fossil fuels.   

We believe that one of the most effective ways we can avert a climate emergency is to better understand how we can utilise renewable consumption; including the role that both forests and forestry will need to play over the coming years to promote the use of replenishable wood resources.

Forest space within Europe alone has expanded by 17,5million hectares in the past 25 years; and continues to rise across both the developed and developing world. If managed correctly, forests can play a major role in suppling and championing sustainable construction. They can also provide a viable and workable alternative to non-renewable building materials in the future.

Here are our top five reasons why architects, specifiers and designers should proactively embrace the benefits of wood as part of their wider portfolio of construction over the next decade:

(1) Renewability:

Wood is the only mainstream modern building material that is truly infinite. The earth’s reserves of metal ore, stone and oil are all finite – whereas trees can be grown and produced in a whole host of sub-terrains and climates around the globe in a sustainable manner. If we manage forests properly, humanity will never run out of wood.

(2) Sustainability:

Using responsibly-sourced wood in a ‘take only what we need’ manner will help us satisfy the global demand for wood, and help protect the biodiversity of forests too. Felling trees when they’ve stored an optimum amount of carbon will also give us the physical space to grow more trees, and therefore remove even more carbon from the atmosphere.

(3) Carbon Storage:

When a tree is felled, it will continue to hold onto the carbon that it collected throughout its life – Therefore every timber building built in the future would help store carbon that was previously in the atmosphere. Over time, whole cities could become ‘carbon reservoirs’ that store thousands of tonnes worth of atmospheric carbon.

(4) Recyclability:

It is very easy and cost-efficient to recycle wood, in comparison to other building materials. When done correctly, a pre-loved wood panel can be recycled up to three times without losing its strength or usability. As wood recycling technologies get more efficient, less wood will need to end up in landfill.

(5) Biodegradability:

Wood is also the only modern building material that’s fully biodegradable. At the end of its product lifespan, the wood of the future could simply find itself shredded into chip flakes and returned to the forest floor to biodegrade – Fungi species within the forest would aid decomposition and help it become the soil that supports a new generation of trees.

As we transition into a more eco-conscious age, wood has to be at the forefront of modern construction if we are to find workable solutions to sustainable building. For more information about the benefits of using wood, visit www.woodforgood.com – the timber trade’s co-ordinated campaign to promote the future use of wood in design and construction.

Product Feature: Ecological Birch Plywood

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Latvian Birch plywood is one of the most important timber-based materials from an environmental and performance perspective.

This versatile material has been produced for over 110 years in Latvia, and during this time it has been subject to continuous technological development and innovation. This has enabled the product to be utilised globally for many demanding applications such as specialist concrete formwork, train and vehicle flooring, multi-tiered seating systems (used at the 2012 Olympic Games), wind-turbine blades and even LNG-ship insulation boxes.

DHH are now able to supply an even ‘greener’ Birch Plywood from Riga Wood in Latvia, as they are able to offer an innovative, more eco-friendly adhesive for plywood that utilises lignin, the naturally occurring strengthening substance found in timber and other plants.

Wood contains around 20-30% Lignin, and this polymeric substance is also a ‘by-product’ from modern chemical pulp-production. There is a three-stage process (see below) that allows manufacturers to transform this naturally-occurring lignin into a resin that can be used as an adhesive for bonding birch plywood.

Prior to this, the industrially produced Lignin would have been used as boiler-fuel to produce energy, but these new developments mean this valuable raw material can now be utilised in a more productive and ecological way.

There are many benefits to using a more natural material for adhesive production, as it helps offer a more greener solution. Natural adhesives are less dependent on fossil chemical derivatives, and this helps reduce the carbon footprint of any wood product that uses them.

Lignin is also sustainable, can be recycled, and when used as a plywood adhesive it will help reduce emissions of VOC’s and formaldehyde – which is an important factor for improving the environmental performance. Riga’s future aim is to eventually use a ‘lignin-derived’ adhesive for all birch plywood production; and DHH now can supply standard birch plywood from stock that is bonded with ‘Riga-Ecological’ adhesive.

*Steph Plaster is one of our resident Technical Plywood Experts; and has a wealth of experience and knowledge around using Plywood for advanced applications.

The Future of Panel Products?

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Did you know that SAIB – one of Italy’s leading chipboard manufacturers – uses recycled wood in its production lines? Is ‘recycled wood’ the future of wood panel products?

SAIB are a family-owned company that produces both raw & melamine faced chipboard from their factory just south of Milan. Over 2 million individual chipboard panels are produced every year, largely from pre-loved wood that’s been sourced from recycling centres across Italy.

The company was founded in 1962, and wanted to create a wood panel product that reused materials leftover from general woodworking in a way that reduced wastage and benefited the environment. They call this process ‘Rewood’. SAIB are one of a few limited European manufacturers to actively use 100% recycled wood within their manufacturing process. The company sees wood waste as a very valuable resource, and proactively uses it within their production…

– Over 150 truckloads of pre-used wood is delivered to Saib every day for recycling and reprocessing into new chipboard products. This equates to over 490,000 tonnes of wood waste every year.

– Over 6 million trees worth of wood are sent to landfill in Europe each year, and the ‘Rewood’ approach of wood recycling prevents a further 750,000 trees from needing to be felled.

Fundamentally, this approach means that Saib doesn’t just offer sustainability benefits to manufacturers and end users, but the whole planet benefits too – less deforestation; healthier forest ecosystems, and more trees left standing to remove carbon from the atmosphere. After all, why stop at carbon neutrality when you can become carbon negative?

Want to find out more about Saib & their Rewood mission? Click here to head through to their website and discover more about their approach to using recycled wood into the future. 

DHH Sponsors Ronnie Chambers Racing

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From Club Cricket to Rugby Union; and now into the Junior Motorsport world – DHH Panel Products are proud to announce their latest local community sporting sponsorship; Ronnie Chambers Racing.

Ronnie Chambers is a local Karting Driver from Essex who is currently at the start of what appears to a very prosperous and successful Motorsport career. With a fantastic track record, and a lot of sponsorship interest, we just knew that we had to get involved and offer our support!

Ronnie has already achieved so much in his karting career so far. He is currently first place in the local Seniors Karting League with eight rounds left to go, and successfully won the ‘A Final’ race in Brentwood a couple of weekends ago. He also recently won the Essex Endurance Charity Race as part of a sustained team effort.

Looking to the future, Ronnie has huge plans for 2023 and wants to add to the fifteen trophies he was won so far. This year he plans to enter into both the British Indoor Karting Championship and the Bayford Meadows (Kent) Championship, and has recently purchased his own Kart so that he can enter Kart Owner championships too.

We know that Ronnie is going to do brilliantly this year, and are proud to sponsor and support this future Motorsport star! Want to know more about Ronnie? Feel free to follow him on Twitter at @SwiftyRacer08, or on Instagram at @Ronnie_Chambers_Racing.

International Women’s Day

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For International Women’s Day this year, we’re celebrating the contribution that Women have brought to the Timber & Panel Products industry. We spoke to Marketing Director Nicola Hollington about her time at DHH Panel Products, and heard her views on increasing female representation within the industry moving forward…

Nicola Hollington: In 2011, I embarked on my journey in the timber trade by joining my family’s business, previously known as DHH Timber. With over 20 years of experience in sales & marketing within the travel industry, I know that I’ve brought a diverse skill set to the table. One of my initial responsibilities upon joining DHH was to establish our social media presence; which increased our visibility, improved customer engagement and successfully showcased our expertise in Birch Plywood and other sheet materials.”

“My role has continually evolved to my current position of Marketing Director; and recently overseeing the challenging task of rebranding and relaunching our website. While Birch plywood remains a specialty, the company has expanded its offerings to include other quality plywood products such as Italian Poplar, Douglas Fir, Eucalyptus and Okoume cores.”

“My late father Derek Fletcher, who was in the trade for over 60 years, had a motto – ‘keep rocking and rolling’ – which I’ve adopted, and which has been my inspiration through challenging times.”

“At DHH we have a wealth of experience – and I’m very privileged to work alongside the team, investing and introducing new people into the industry. Along with my business partners Ben Francis (Managing Director) & Claire Walker (HR Director) we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment at both DHH and sister company Decor Solutions.”

“In recent years, I’ve been pleased to witness more women join this traditionally male-dominated industry, including my own daughter Amelia Hollington. Her already profound understanding and unwavering commitment to compliance fill me with immense pride; and I see a promising future ahead. Whilst there is still progress to be made to increase female representation, the fresh perspective and passion that women can bring to the table will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing transformation of our industry.”

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Please call 01708 864245 to order today

or email our Sales team on: sales@dhhpanelproducts.co.uk

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DHH [Timber Products] Ltd (t/a DHH Panel Products) has FSC® Certified products available upon request, and supports the responsible use of forests. For more information about our commitment to sustainable forestry, please visit our sustainability page.

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