# Is it the most expensive plywood ever?



## dbrode1 (Apr 22, 2011)

Pound-for-pound it might be. It's Finnish birch aircraft plywood - the 1/64" (0.4mm) thick stuff. I can't post a link until I get 'older', but it's at the Wood products > Plywood page at the Aircraft Canada Spruce website. I'm thinking about ordering some and then try to come up with a project to use it.

Has anyone ever worked with plywood this thick?! Is Finnish birch an actual species? And are there any sources for very thin veneers (single thickness)? At the nearby dollar store they have some purses made of very thin wood - made in China - for a buck.

So many questions. So much wood. So little time....

Thanks!


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Hi Doug,
To reach your 10 posts just go to the introductions forum & say hi to a few new people. It just takes a couple of minutes. especially since you need just one more.


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## LinuxRandal (Mar 11, 2011)

Aircraft grade wood is always expensive. Weight to strength ratio is key. I have a gang of friends that meet every Wensday night as they are all building Legal Eagles (experimental class plane), based on one a friend built.
(wood is used in the wings of this craft)
Unless your building an aircraft, I would shy away from such expensive lumber.


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Can that thickness measurement be right ?
It says it's 3 ply and yet less than half a millimetre thick ?


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

I build acoustic guitar bodies from 0.8mm ply. I always thought that aero ply had an even no. of plys 8 or 10.


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## dbrode1 (Apr 22, 2011)

gav said:


> Can that thickness measurement be right ?
> It says it's 3 ply and yet less than half a millimetre thick ?


Yes, that's what it says on the website. It's 0.4mm 3-ply plywood.


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## dbrode1 (Apr 22, 2011)

Mike Wingate said:


> I build acoustic guitar bodies from 0.8mm ply. I always thought that aero ply had an even no. of plys 8 or 10.



Guitars?! Cool! I'd like to build a guitar too, one of these days. I'm retired and have decided to get back into woodworking.

That's an unusual guitar you're working on. Are the specs online somewhere?

Thanks......


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Mike Wingate said:


> I build acoustic guitar bodies from 0.8mm ply. I always thought that aero ply had an even no. of plys 8 or 10.


How many ply is that Mike ? 
Here, the thinnest veneer available is 0.6 mm . I can't imagine how they can make ply thinner than that.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Let's see.. that 48"x48"x0.4mm (0.016") sheet of ply sells for what, $53.75?

That sheet of plywood is 36 cubic inches... at 144 cubic inches per board foot... that's 4 sheets per board foot... Oh my!


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

On the travel guitars, I generally use 2 layers of 0.8mm ply for the sides, joining at the neck block for a bolt on neck, with a shaped and glued in tail block to take a strap pin or strapjack. A variety of shapes are achievable by using shaped blocks as mandolins use. The ply forms its own curves without any heated bending.


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Now I'm a bit confused. Is this 0.8mm piece actually ply(containing more than one ply) or is is it simply a 0.8mm thick veneer ?


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## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

More information on aircraft ply:
FINNISH BIRCH AIRCRAFT PLYWOOD (METRIC) from Aircraft Spruce


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## BeninTucson (Feb 17, 2012)

Hi . . . 

1/64" and 1/32" thick birch ply is marvelous stuff. You can find small sized sheets (6" X 12", 6" X 24", etc.) in most well stocked hobby stores, typically near the balsa wood rack. Aircraft Spruce & Specialty with sell you larger sheets. 

I've used these super thin birch plywoods for a variety of model airplane projects over the years. The 1/64" stuff is made up from 3 veneer layers of wood, the middle core running perpendicular to the outside layers. I'm not in front of my wood collection as I'm typing this but, if memory serves, the 1/32" stuff is 5 layers. Perhaps because of the thinness of the veneer sheets, the exteriors of these super-thin birch ply products tend to have a reddish brown cast. The 1/16" thick and thicker birch plys use thicker veneers and the white exterior sheet color returns to the wood on these thicknesses. 

When I was having a hard time locating small quantities of suitably straight 1/8" thick spruce for some school class toss glider projects a couple of years ago (this would be the preferred material for the stick fuselage, which is the part that all the other balsa flying surfaces hang off of,) I made some great composite blanks with a 3/32" balsa core and laminates of the 1/64"birch ply on either side. Here's how you do it . . . 

Aliphatic resin water-based glue (Titebond, etc.) is used to bond, with a couple of wax paper-wrapped glass plates used for super-flat cauls. The trick is to keep it clamped for at least 36 hours (and that's what's needed down here in the super-dry desert climate during the very warm early summer months.) Unclamp it too early and the composite sheet will curl badly. You can unclamp briefly early on for water clean up of excess glue, of course, but resist the temptation to finally unclamp too soon. After the glue cleanup, clamp it back up and just let it sit for a couple of days. You'll be glad you did. 

For those who are concerned with such things - and assuming you're using fairy stiff balsa core material in the 10 to 14 pound per cubic foot range - density of the finished balsa/birch composite sheet is around 24 pounds per cubic foot, which is about the same as Sitka Spruce. 

Ben in Tucson


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