Although you hear the term “furniture grade plywood” bandied around from time to time (usually by people who don’t know any better), there really is no such thing. Furniture is an application in which plywood is used; but there is no such grade of plywood. Rather, the term “furniture grade” is a loosely used term, primarily referring to plywood with a letter grade identifying the quality of face veneer, which would make it acceptable for use in building furniture.
This grade of finish is normally only found on hardwood plywood, sometimes referred to as “cabinet grade” plywood, because it is commonly used for making cabinetry. But it can also be found on softwood plywood, if you look hard enough. It’s impossible to find such a high quality finish on products like OSB (oriented strand-board) and MDF (medium-density fiberboard) because of the way they are made and the material they are made from.
