# Birch Plywood versus Baltic Birch Plywoood



## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

I have plans for a drill press table that call for baltic birch plywood. I only have access to the big box stores (Menards, Home Depot, Lowes) and they have Birch but not Baltic Birch. Would I be ok using Birch plywood?


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## john880 (Aug 18, 2010)

Keven,
Now days be very carefull where you buy you sheets of venered plywood. Note where they were made. As apposed to Baltic, it is not perfect, but the fault is in the top veneer not being perfect, they have to fill the inprofections with divids. in all sizes there is, more layers, constant thickness just more reliaibility. You can usually special oder from the big box stores as a customer service.

Read this ~~~eBay Guides - Multi Ply Baltic Birch Plywood


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## RTexasCwby (Mar 7, 2009)

I believe you actually can get Baltic birch at Home Depot. Your local store might need to order it for you, but according to their web site it is available.


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## RTexasCwby (Mar 7, 2009)

I should have added this to my previous post...sorry. A very good alternative is to use any regular 3/4" plywood but sandwich top and bottom with 1/4" hardboard. This would also allow you to create a sacrificial insert in the middle of the top layer. I have actually seen this done and with two 3/4" pieces in the center creating a quite substantial table. Good luck,
Dan


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## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

I don't see baltic birch available on their website. I only see Birch plywood. Can you post a link?


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## rcp612 (Oct 22, 2008)

My Menard's stocks it, although I'm pretty sure it is Finnish Birch. No difference as far as I know other than being 4'X8' rather than 5'X5'.


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## john880 (Aug 18, 2010)

Finnish Birch has less inprofections in its top both sides outside layers, a little higher priced also. Sometimes a better quality Birch, due to where it grows.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I believe that a lot of the plans out there call for a specific type of wood, or plywood, just because the originator of the plans prefers it. For example, ALL of the plans for shop tables, jigs, etc., that I make call for sheathing plywood. On the other hand, I make all my own plans for those things. :lol: And I have no problems with any of them. :thank_you2:


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## RTexasCwby (Mar 7, 2009)

I was mistaken about Home Depot. I had been searching for another product for some cabinets and I had a brain fart and confused it with the Baltic birch.


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## JohnnyB60 (Jun 15, 2009)

I for one am getting really tired of hearing about recommended or specified "Baltic plywood". I’ve been looking for that stuff for a long time and it just isn’t available everywhere. 

The cost to have it shipped in is ridiculous unless you only need a small piece then you can get it from Rocker which is overpriced in my mind. I wish people would stop specifying it. There are plenty of other plywood that works just as well, maybe not as perfect as Baltic, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never seen it except in photos.


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## 81Custom (Apr 1, 2007)

well, there IS a difference wne it comes to being FLAT... I had a cabinetmaker show me the diff by standing 1 BB and 1 reg ply ,each about a foot sq.,on end on his table saw..then he let them fall on their faces... thye BB make VERY LITTLE sound when it hit, due to it's more accurate surface... the ply made a "thud" due to lesser attention to surface flatness... I saw what he meant by it being better for cabinets...


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Baltic Birch Plywood is a great product and far exceeds the limitations of "normal" plywood. In my area (Metro Atlanta, GA), Baltic Birch Plywood is readily available at every Hobby Lobby store I have visited. In my opinion, it is well worth the price difference. Some projects benefit greatly from it, and others not so much.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

In Australia, we can obtain baltic birch ply but it is more expensive and has to be ordered in.

We also have 'furniture grade' ply which is void free but with lesser number of plys. This may be suitable in most applications.


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## JohnnyB60 (Jun 15, 2009)

OPG3 said:


> Baltic Birch Plywood is a great product and far exceeds the limitations of "normal" plywood. In my area (Metro Atlanta, GA), Baltic Birch Plywood is readily available at every Hobby Lobby store I have visited. In my opinion, it is well worth the price difference. Some projects benefit greatly from it, and others not so much.


I’ve heard that Hobbylobby sells a lot of stuff. I wish they had them around here.


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## medkellogg (Mar 12, 2012)

Hi Kevin, I may be stating the obvious, but I believe one of the reasons folks specify baltic birch ply is the strength. True baltic birch ply has more plys, I think 8 instead of the standard 5 plys in standard birch ply. The edges also look nicer if they are left viewable. Home Depot has been selling a sanded "cabinet grade" ply for $29 a sheet (in the Northwest at least) which has the 8 plys. It does not have the great birch grain, but if you can put up with standard ply grain and a few sanded, filled knots on the reverse side it's a great deal.


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## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

Thanks for all the info everyone. I found a local shop that sells a lot of uncommon wood, and they sell Russian Birch for $50 for 5'x5'. They said it's the same thing as Baltic Birch, and it definitely looks a lot nicer than what I saw at the big box stores. I think I'll give it a try and see how it goes.


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## JohnnyB60 (Jun 15, 2009)

Wow, 5 x5! I didn’t know it came in 5’ width. No wonder nobody around here sells the stuff.

I was looking at Baltic Birch Plywood at Rocker and the largest size is 24”x30” and a ¾” piece is about $29 with shipping so thats not bad I guess.


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## Drew Eckhardt (Aug 2, 2008)

medkellogg said:


> Hi Kevin, I may be stating the obvious, but I believe one of the reasons folks specify baltic birch ply is the strength. True baltic birch ply has more plys, I think 8 instead of the standard 5 plys in standard birch ply.


18mm Baltic birch has 13 plies.

Other notable differences are that 
- The interior plies are also birch not some unspecified softwood. It'll be stiffer and hold screws better.

- The interior plies are void free (but potentially patched). You won't get buzzes if you use it for speaker cabinets or have holes to fill to avoid air leaks when you route driver rebates.

As a high-grade product it's more likely to start flat and stay that way but not guaranteed.


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## sourdough (Jan 31, 2010)

I have found Baltic Birch Plywood at Menards in full sheets. My local yards will order it for me and then I have them cut in half so I can deal with it. The Menards guy said they would not cut it for me. A Home Depot store will order it AND cut it in half for you.
It is truly wonderful stuff for many projects.
Hang the expense....give up a bottle of Chateau Margaux or a vat of Chateau Y'quem or maybe some 25 year old Chivas Regal.


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## kawisser (Aug 15, 2011)

JohnnyB60 said:


> Wow, 5 x5! I didn’t know it came in 5’ width. No wonder nobody around here sells the stuff.
> 
> I was looking at Baltic Birch Plywood at Rocker and the largest size is 24”x30” and a ¾” piece is about $29 with shipping so thats not bad I guess.


From talking with the guys there, it sounded like the standard size for a full sheet of plywood from overseas is 5' x 5'


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

Just a bit more info here. I owned an astronomy business & I made the rocker boxes from Baltic Birch plywood. Drew & Warren I agree Menards used to stock 4x8 sheets of bb plywood but now they only special order it. Price is 69.95. I do not believe there is any shipping charge if I remember correctly.

There are what I call "lookalikes" out there but true Baltic Birch plywood has a total of 13 plys. BB plywood is definitely stronger but IMHO importantly stable. This is why we used this wood to make the telescope bases. The bases in the field are subjected to extrem conditions. That is why this wood is far more superior than any other wood for that application. 

Kevin I uses this same wood for my drill press table as well. Worked very well.

I think it was James that commented on furniture bb plywood, we here in Bay City Michigan have something like that as well. Defiantly a step up from standard birch plywood but not as good as true BB plywood. One thing I noticed using that a bit is the outside skin is extremely thin. Probably half the thickness as true BB birch plywood.

Thanks for listening!


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## rgeneres (Jan 31, 2008)

Dale, I'm from Flint, MI and I remember running across a company here that manufactures dance floors. They were selling off their scrap and excess bb at a really good price, I think around $50 a sheet. Being the holiday, I'll try to remember to check on them Tuesday and post what I found out.


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

rgeneres said:


> Dale, I'm from Flint, MI and I remember running across a company here that manufactures dance floors. They were selling off their scrap and excess bb at a really good price, I think around $50 a sheet. Being the holiday, I'll try to remember to check on them Tuesday and post what I found out.


Hey sounds good Russ! Let us no.

Thanks!


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## rgeneres (Jan 31, 2008)

I did get a chance to stop and check on the BB, but the owner wasn't there. I'll try again this week.


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

Ok sounds good!


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

5' x 5' sheet? Here we get "Sanded precision dimensions range from 1/4" to 1" in thickness available in 4x8, 4x9, 4x10, 5x8, 5x9 and 5x10." Then there's Marine grade in 4' x 8', 4' x 9', 4' x 10', 5' x 8', 5' x 9', 5' x 10' and structural in 4' x 9' and 4' x10'.

Having said that, I went out to the garage, 3/4" Marine Grade is 6 ply, with the 2 outside plys being a laminate... Very slick, very strong. Haven't really noticed any voids.


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## rgeneres (Jan 31, 2008)

I finally found time to stop back by the dance floor mfg and he had a bunch of approx 2' x 4' baltic birch 'scraps' that he sold to me for $7.50 each. He has more and some of it had maple as outer plys.


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

Wow Russ you scored on that! If I were closer I'd try to go and get some myself! 
Where exactly is this place Russ? Do you have a name and phone number where I could call them?

Thanks!


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## pamack (Mar 23, 2009)

Years ago I made a Murphy Bed with the "Baltic Birch" plywood from Home Depot. Until I finished it off with a clear coat I thought all was going well. What I found is the top veneer layer varies in thickness and porosity so much that the coloring shifted from region to region in very unpleasant ways. I was not happy, to say the least, and the store manager did look into it but said that is what you get from their supplier. 

So I would caution against using it if the finish uniformity and coloring is important for your project. General shop jigs would do fine with it, but I won't use it on a finish project again.

...Patrick


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

mackinlay said:


> Years ago I made a Murphy Bed with the "Baltic Birch" plywood from Home Depot. Until I finished it off with a clear coat I thought all was going well. What I found is the top veneer layer varies in thickness and porosity so much that the coloring shifted from region to region in very unpleasant ways. I was not happy, to say the least, and the store manager did look into it but said that is what you get from their supplier.
> 
> So I would caution against using it if the finish uniformity and coloring is important for your project. General shop jigs would do fine with it, but I won't use it on a finish project again.
> 
> ...Patrick


Boy sorry to here that Patrick! I have used HD and Menards products for over 8yrs and never had any problems like that. Not to be-little you in any way but are you sure you had BB plywood? Just birch veneer can be, well not so good. BB has 13 layers including the 2 outer skins.

Thanks


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

dalepenkala said:


> BB has 13 layers including the 2 outer skins.


Now I'm starting to get confused...

Looking at now. Both below supposedly are in some kind of global shortage.

Baltic Birch: 
1/2" - 9 ply
5/8" - 12 ply
3/4" - 15 ply

Finish Birch:
12mm - 24 ply

I've seen people all through this tread counting different than what I am counting by eye. (I have to wear glasses to count the thinner layers.) Is this taking into account different specific grades of plywood? Just curious.


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Has anyone (North America) looked into Appleply Plywood? 

Like I said, BB is getting rare. Appleply was developed in the US to replace it. It has the same ply's and ratings as Baltic Birch. It is approved by the US government, who did the strength, machinability and other tests. (Just read their findings)

It got it's name because the originals had an Apple veneer. It is available in a range of veneers to include birch. Supposedly it's a lot less money than Baltic Birch because it's not being shipped from the other side of the world, nor is any part of it from any kind of rare commodities.

Worth looking into? Just thinking...


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

MAFoElffen said:


> Now I'm starting to get confused...
> 
> Looking at now. Both below supposedly are in some kind of global shortage.
> 
> ...


Hello Mike
True 3/4" (actually undersize) BB plywood is 11 thicker layers with 2 skins that are quit thin, maybe 1/64" thick. This is what I used in my products that we manufactured here in mid-Michigan. True BB plywood has by far less voids in the layers as well. Years ago you could only get this in 5'x5 sheets but it is now offered in many different sizes. I'm not 100% sure how many layers 1/2" bb has but 9 or 11 sounds about right. If I get the chance I'll check & post.

Hope this helps!


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## dalepenkala (Feb 1, 2012)

MAFoElffen said:


> Has anyone (North America) looked into Appleply Plywood?
> 
> Like I said, BB is getting rare. Appleply was developed in the US to replace it. It has the same ply's and ratings as Baltic Birch. It is approved by the US government, who did the strength, machinability and other tests. (Just read their findings)
> 
> ...


Yes Mike you are right Appleply is an option. In the astronomy field Appleply wasn't as well accepted as bb so I decided to stay with bb event though prices were higher. My customers had more comfort in that decision. As far as cabinets Appleply would be a very good alternative!

Thanks!


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