Baltic Birch

[Mainemarc]

quote:Originally posted by 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.

I have a Rockler's 5 minutes away, and I'd trade it for a Woodcraft within an hour's drive any day of the week.

[LarryG]

Aha! I didn't think BB and marine plywood were the same thing (this is my story, and I'm sticking to it). I knew that marine ply has waterproof glue, but didn't know what kind of glue was used in BB ply.

I do know that some marine ply is available with veneers like mahogany, in sheets 10' long. I know this because a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, my dad and I used to build rotor blades for homebuilt gyrocopters out of this stuff.

Also, the HD here (and others have reported likewise) have 2' x 4' sheets of a material that from all outward appearances is Baltic birch. It's 3/4" thick, has 13 plies, and both birch faces are generally clear with the odd fisheye plug here and there. Cost is about $15 per piece. I have not seen the same thing in full, 4'x8' sheets at my HD (they do have regular 7-ply 3/4" cabinet-grade birch). Might be worth a look at your local Big Orange.

[final_t]

Larry: The HD's here in Columbus used to carry that, and I liked it a lot - they called it "Homer Panels" or "Handy Panels" or something equally odd. Went back recently, same name & price, but MUCH lower quality - 5 to 7 piles for 3/4" stuff, varied a lot. Bought a piece anyways, it fell apart. YMMV.

[Rounder]

Hmmmm, Woodcraft - 20 minutes away. HF - 30 minutes away. Big Lots - between 5 and 30 minutes depending on the store. Utter Guys - 5 minutes. Rockler - 8 to 10 hours away. Grizzly - 20+ hours away.

[Jim-Iowa]

Heck You guys are not out in the Boonies at all!!
Rockler & woodcraft stores are days away not hours!
The only bright spot or curse is the "Woodsmith Store" is just 40 blocks from the office.

[gmack5]

I have a local Cabinet Shop that makes those wooden trays that are used by Chichi's under hot platters. He gets an order from his customer for 10,000 at a crack! He makes them out of 18mm Baltic Birch, which he buys by the skid load.

He'll sell me a 5' X 5' sheet for $25, which I think is a bargian!
Unfortunately, if I want any other thicknesses, I have to drive to the supplier that is 80 miles away (big deal!).

[thiggy]

The Borg in my area (B'ham Al) carries Baltic Birch, but it is either 4' X 4' or 2' X 4'. I don't know if they get full sheets in and cut it down in the store, or it comes pre-cut.

[MPod]

I could be wrong but I believe Finish Birch will be closer to Marine Ply than Baltic Birch. Finish Birch uses waterproof glue and costs more than Baltic Birch. They look the same but FB is intended for outdoor use and Baltic Birch for indoor.

Feel free to smack me upside the back of my head if I'm all wet (couldn't resist the pun).

[ElRay]

quote:Originally posted by thiggy

The Borg in my area (B'ham Al) carries Baltic Birch, but it is either 4' X 4' or 2' X 4'. I don't know if they get full sheets in and cut it down in the store, or it comes pre-cut.

I doubt that’s really Baltic Birch. A BB sheet is 5x5, so what’s happening to the 1’ wide left overs? I have seen (supposedly) higher quality (11 ply) birch plywood in the pre-cut bins, but it’s more than just 2 plies short of real BB. I bought a few pieces (also thinking it was BB), but the 2” wide strips I ripped warped pretty bad after being cut, so there’s no way that was real BB.

Ray