Baltic Birch

[ironhat]

Someone please inform me on this term. I see birch veneered ply in HD and "L"s but I've never seen Baltic birch. Is this a furniture grade ply without any voids as opposed to the box store variety? Where do you buy yours? Local ma/pop yards??
TIA,
Chiz

[Tom Miller]

Baltic Birch is a high-grade plywood, sometimes called marine ply. Nominally 3/4" has 13 plies.

It essentially has no voids -- imperfections are punched out and patched with football shaped patches (~3" long, 2" wide). I think it is graded similarly to ply such that you can get a piece that at least has no patches on one side, IIRC.

It comes in 5' x 5' sheets.

Regards,
Tom
Oh yeah, HD doesn't carry this stuff -- check your local hardwoods supplier.

Also, the edges are high enough quality that you can machine them. You've maybe seen finished items around with machined (rounded) edges with no solid edging required -- especially kid's furniture at daycares, doctor's offices, etc.

[ironhat]

Thanks, Tom. I suspected a higher grade supplier that the standard construction grade fare found at the Borg. Five by five, huh!?? Odd side.
Thanks,
Chiz

[LarryG]

Baltic birch and marine plywood are the same thing? I didn't know that. Learn something new everyday around this place.

Chiz: in addition to Baltic birch, there's also Finnish birch, and a Made In USA product called Apple Ply (a play on the phrase, "as American as apple pie"). It's all essentially the same stuff except that I think Apple Ply comes in the standard 4x8 sheets, but don't quote me on that.

The Woodcraft and Rockler stores should have BB or FB in stock, if you have either of those near you. Alternatively, you can order it from their web sites or a number of other online vendors. Since this material is expensive and comes in the Euro-size sheets, it's common to find it sold in partial-sheet sizes: 12" x 24", 12" x 30", 24" x 30", etc.

I bought mine from Rockler, as their prices are about half what Woodcraft charges.

[ironhat]

Boy, the things I give up by living in the country. The closest Woodcraft is 1 hr away in Harrisburg - no Rockler's in sight. I might look toward DC and Baltimore but, ugh, the traffic and travel time. That's what has kept me from the wood at Lumber Liquidators.

[LarryG]

quote:Originally posted by ironhat

The closest Woodcraft is 1 hr away in Harrisburg - no Rockler's in sight.

I'll see your hour and raise you another hour -- or another hour and a half, depending on whether I go north or south to hit the closest Woodcraft store. I have no idea where the nearest Rockler is. Atlanta, maybe. Me and the UPS guy are on a first-name basis.

As regards living in the country, there ARE compensations. For example my morning commute takes a whopping 12 minutes, door to door -- how about yours?

[ironhat]

8 minutes if I stop for a cup of decaff. I'm not griping about the country - I chose to live here but now the city people (1.5 hrs away) hae dicided that it's worth the drive and are moving here in droves. Driving up the cost of everything and the farms are being paved as we speak. Soon, we won't be able to shoot the groundhogs in our backyard!!

[JR]

Hmm, I guess I live in the country, too. Only 15 minutes commute, but a solid hour to Rockler (or more if it rains, doesn't rain, earthquake, excessive sun, early moon, etc.). Just me and 18 million other lovers of the quiet life....

JR

[RainShadow]

Are you guys sure about Marine Plywood = Baltic Birch ?????
I do not think so.........
I used Marine Plywood years ago for on outdoor backboard for a basketball hoop and it has exterior/waterproof glue and does not have as many layers as Baltic Birch nor nearly the quality of finish.
Baltic Birch is usually found in an odd size of 5 ft X 5 ft and is cabinet grade and am not sure it has waterproof glue.
Am I going wack ??? as my son would say.
Good luck, Randy from Oceanside, CA

[bmyers]

RainShadow is right I think. Marine plywood uses a waterproof glue. BB is just the high-ply stuff with no voids. It's good for drawers, jigs, cabinets (free standing), etc. It's stays straight, it's strong, and it's lighter than say MDF. You can make dovetail drawers out of it.

Although, I'm not real sure why people think that square is funny. I've never thought of squares as odd shapes but whatever.

It's made overseas where metric rules (ha ha).. They are 1 1/2 meters square (you know, that funny shape ).. You can get it in 4'x8' sheets but it's the chinese BB I think. If you cut it in half, it's about the right height for a cabinet.

I really like it but it's a little pricey. The stuff you find at HD is something completely different. They might have 7 or 9 ply but not BB.

Bill

[Black wallnut]

Not to be arguementitive but a few years ago I priced BB and regular birch AC and per square foot it was almost the same cost.

I'm also thinking that Randy is right. IIRC marine ply is available in longer sizes than just 4' x 8'.

[LCHIEN]

I also have the impression that baltic birch PW and marine plywood are entirely different beasts.

The Marine stuff is waterproof.
The BB has many fine layers of quality wood, low or no voids and lays nice and flat - the edges are clean and even attractive.

Here's some web site descriptions:
A/B Marine:

quote:Marine plywood available in ¼", 3/8", ½" and ¾" thicknesses 4x8 sheets (sold by the sheet only). Marine plywood is usually used in boat making application. The same exterior glue as in all exterior construction grade plywoods is used. The main difference, and what makes marine plywood more expensive is the voidless inner plys that make up the plywood. Inner plys must be solid. (A boats motor causes vibration, if a plywood with inner voids is used the plywood can delaminate. Marine plywood has all voidless inner plys.)

Baltic Birch Plywood:

quote:Who would have thought that the world's strongest, most precisely manufactured sheet material is a product of the former Soviet Block? Baltic birch ply is made entirely of 1/16-inch thick, flaw-free hardwood laminations. It comes in metric thicknesses ranging from 3 mm to 18 mm, all in quirky 5-foot x 5-foot sheets. If I had to choose a skid of only one kind of plywood to take with me to my desert-island workshop, I'd choose some 12 mm Baltic birch. Even the edges look good. The fine, contrasting laminations always remind me of an All-Sorts candy.

You can't beat Baltic birch for drawer boxes, small cabinet bodies and toolboxes. Its weird sheet size means it's no good for floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, but hey, nothing's perfect

[Pappy]

quote:Originally posted by ironhat

Boy, the things I give up by living in the country. The closest Woodcraft is 1 hr away in Harrisburg - no Rockler's in sight. I might look toward DC and Baltimore but, ugh, the traffic and travel time. That's what has kept me from the wood at Lumber Liquidators.

Check with other local lumber yards. We have a home grown company called 'McCoy's' that carries it.

[Tom Miller]

I guess I should have said "sometimes carelessly called marine ply". But, alas, I think I was the one being careless. [:I]

I also could have said that someone will surely correct me if I'm wrong, but I see that ship has already sailed.

Anyhoo, the BB is great stuff to work with, if you can find some. And beware the varying quality of the Chinese birch ply at HD. The last sheet I bought (uhhh, make that the first and last) was awful.

Regards,
Tom

[Hoover]

Baltic Birch aka Russian Birch is available locally. It is high grade,no voids, A grade both sides. It comes in 1/4 1/2, and 3/4, A/A sides. The panels are 5' x 5' no flaws, no voids.