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Moderator Answer
(koo schadler)
Hi Damir,
Agreed, I've seen sheets of plywood in rough shape (warped/split plys) that were left exposed to weather and/or are poorly made. I've also seen hardboard with swelled areas & splitting at the edges. All wood products (wood fibers & glue) can degrade if improperly stored.
My husband used to make table easels out of 3/4", cabinet grade, birch plywood. Fifteen years ago he predictably got flawless sheets. In the past five years, even when he insisted upon and paid for the most expensive grades, he'd find voids, chips, splits (at the time, from China - the lumberyard said it was the best they could get, but it wasn't very good!). Given supply chain & quality control issues, it can be very hard (perhaps impossible, depending on where you live) to get a truly high-grade plywood made from glues tested to withstand many decades of harsh conditions. Nonetheless, such plywoods do exist (at least, they used to!). So, if you can find one, I think they're as good an option as hardboard (which also may not be produced to the highest standards).
If the conclusion is that engineered wood panels are too poorly made and/or unpredictable now, how about solid wood? An old growth/fine-grained, radially cut, properly aged, hardwood panel is a good choice, but good luck finding one! Sigh...
I don't mean to say they're aren't real differences between wood-based panels; only that I don't see, among the options (solid wood, plywood, hardboard, fiberboard), that one is clearly, significantly superior to the others in all its characteristics (as long as, whichever you choose, is the highest grade). So I stand by a high grade plywood (face coated with fabric) as a good choice; it has characteristics both superior & inferior to a dense, high-grade hardboard.
If conservators want to weigh in on this, it'd be good to hear from them.
As to the veracity of Ampersand and ArtBoard Gesso's claims that they're panels are better...I agree with you, they're likely not different from a high grade lumberyard panel. (Interestingly, each company says theirs is the best option, yet Ampersands uses hardboard & ArtBoard uses MDF/HDF - go figure). For more info:
https://ampersandart.com/full/introduction-to-ampersand-hardbord
https://www.art-boards.com/Nat%20Fib-SolidCoreConstruction.html
On both sites I find what I consider some misleading or incorrect information. I find many artists very trusting of art supply companies whereas, in reality, many manufacturers overhype their products. I often see manufacturers & marketers who are neither experienced artists and/or scientists; frankly, they often don't seem to know much about materials and methods. The few suppliers (many of whom contribute to MITRA) that actually research & test, work with experienced painters, have deeply educational websites, etc. - they're more the exception then the rule (and hence deeply valued).
Amidst this jumble, I just try to use the best materials and methods I'm capable of - then let go of how long the work lasts. I've had well-made paintings burn in housefires, fall apart through water damage - nothing lasts forever...