Baltic Birch plywood

[3thumbs]

Most plans that I use call for Baltic Birch plywood. HD and Lowe's don't carry it, and the only place that I can find that has it at all only carries 5' x 5' sheets.
The plans I have call for and use most of a 4 x 8 sheet.
Where do you find yours?

[cgallery]

Menards carries a sort of Baltic Birch in 4x8 sheets.

I say "sort of" because I'm not sure it is made in the Baltics.

[jonmulzer]

Check with your local hardwoods dealer. You could substitute any plain grained hardwood plywood that you could find and after finished it should look just about identical.

[RmeDad]

Here's what I use!

Most plans that I use call for Baltic Birch plywood. HD and Lowe's don't carry it, and the only place that I can find that has it at all only carries 5' x 5' sheets.
The plans I have call for and use most of a 4 x 8 sheet.
Where do you find yours?

I buy my birch plywood at HD! Millstead 3/4 In. x 2 Ft. x 4 Ft. Birch Pre-cut Plywood $16.44 ea. and Millstead 1/2 In. x 2 Ft. x 4 Ft. Birch Pre-Cut Panel $14.44 ea and Millstead 3/4 In. x 4 Ft. x 8 Ft. Birch Plywood $39.95 ea and Millstead 1/2 In. x 4 Ft. x 8 Ft. Birch Hardwood Plywood $37.88 ea. and Millstead 1/4 In. x 4 Ft. x 8 Ft. Birch Plywood $24.88 ea.

[dbhost]

Must be your Lowes or Home Depot. Plenty of Birch ply around these parts!

[cabinetman]

If you ask for Apple Ply, it's equal to Baltic Birch, comes in 4'x8', and is made in the U.S.
.

[LinuxRandal]

If I remember correctly, the Menards birch, is appleply, or some name along those lines (USA birch made). Baltic birch, is much heavier then the borg ply, and has NO voids. It also come in a European standard, 5x5.

[Tom Slick]

real BB comes in 5x5 sheets.

[drumpriest]

The home depot and lowes birch plywood is not equivalent to baltic birch, as Tom points out. Baltic birch is a much higher grade of plywood in that all voids have been filled with inlay material, not with wood paste, or ignored, which is the case with ply from HD and Lowes. You don't always get a pretty face when buying BB, I use it mostly for veneer substrate, and when I need a plywood that has a prayer of being flat (though it's not always flat either)

[LCHIEN]

real Baltic Birch plywood comes from nations neigboring the Baltic sea in Europe, which means scandanavian countries like Finland , Russia, Denmark, etc. Characteristics include metric sizing (3, 6, 9 mm, 12mm roughly equal to 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2". ), coming in 5'x5' sheets which equates to around 1.52 meters, very thin layer, void-free laminations (1/2" may have 9 plys) which look attractive when the cut edge is viewed, and a nice clear birch veneer. I would assume that the internal lamination layers are also native woods to the Baltic area which would include probably birch or aspens? (as opposed to pines and Firs in US-made contruction grade plywoods) Its a quality plywood which is attractive, stable and works nicely and finshes well even if raw edges are left exposed.

Other plywoods could be substituted if you found equal features other than the 5x5 sizing. I understand Applyply is similar in most respects except comes in 4'x8' sheets and the plys and veneers are maple rather than birch.
OTOH, just plain "birch" plywood is not the same, the veneer should be birch but the interior construction will be more like regular plywood, thicker softwood plys or lower quality.

[3thumbs]

Thanks for all of your input. I went and looked at the HD Birch plywood, and I think that I'll give it a shot. At about 20% of the cost of real BB Ply, I guess that I can put up with some filler on the exposed end grain. It's a shop cabinet, so if it turns out badly, I'll just paint it!
DM

[khf314]

Baltic Birch

My local hardwood dealer (Pasadena, CA - Arroyo Hardwoods) carries two kinds, Finnish birch and Russian birch. The Russian birch is somewhat lower quality but 1/2 to 2/3 the price. Both are 5 x 5 sheets.

I can also get ripped pieces of BB at my local Rockler's if I need less than a full sheet.

[fastfoodkills]

Found a nice source in the San Fernando Valley - Far West Plywood is asking about $36.00 for pre-finished lacquered Russian BB 1/2" in 5x5 sheets. Van Nuys Plywood on Topanga (not in Van Nuys anymore) has unfinished Russian BB 5x5 1/2" for around $27.00. I thought Philips in Pacoima had the Russian 3/4" 4x8 sheets for $75-80.00.

[3thumbs]

Well, I used the Birch ply from HD. It's usable, but it has a lot of voids in the end grain, and you have to be really careful with the sander, because the veneer is quite thin.
DM

[poolhound]

Thanks for all of your input. I went and looked at the HD Birch plywood, and I think that I'll give it a shot. At about 20% of the cost of real BB Ply, I guess that I can put up with some filler on the exposed end grain. It's a shop cabinet, so if it turns out badly, I'll just paint it!
DM

Not sure how much you paid at HD or what you have been quoted for BB but HD HW ply is usually $40-$50 a sheet (3/4") and a sheet of BB is nowhere near $200! I usually see it anywhere from $50-$75 a sheet.