# Baltic Birch Plywood Issue - Please Advise



## Plywoodny (Sep 6, 2009)

Hello 

I am relatively new to the woodworking industry and I have a somewhat awkward concern. 

Well story begins when I bought a crate of 3/4 Inch Baltic Birch Plywood BB/C Grade. Unfortunately when I was unloading the crate from my pickup truck it fell on one side and fell pretty hard (1 ton - 27 Sheets). I got it to warehouse and decided to unpack on a next day since it was too late and I was too tired. When I came back next day and unpacked plywood from crate I was happy to see that quality of plywood is much better than I have expected and a good BB side has immaculate texture and of superb quality. My excitement lasted up until I saw the other end of the sheet where yellow streaks on a face of the ply were extending about 10 inches in to the ply. (Please see attached pictures-color is not really correct but you can see what I am talking about). Unfortunately the end of sheet with streaks is the same side that fell down from the truck. When I inspected the rest of 26 sheets I saw the same on all of them. 

My question is, since many of you deal with Baltic Birch what would you say about those streaks? Is this something normal and can be expected or it's a direct damage from the fall? I would really appreciate your expert advice and share of knowledge. Again I am new to this so I have nothing to rely on in this matter. :sad:

Thank you very much for your help.


----------



## Bonehead V.2 (Aug 23, 2009)

Unless the ground was wet/muddy/etc., the falling and the streaking on THAT side is just coincidence, IMO. Do you know (were you told) that it WASN'T made that way, that the sheets were not discolored? Was the pricing discounted because the sheets had a little discoloration?

Just wondering............


----------



## Old_Chipper (Mar 30, 2009)

I think Mark is correct. Dropping them wouldn't give that kind of streaking. Are the patterns of the streaks the same on each sheet? like booking. That would tell you if it was something in the wood. Some natural streaking is allowed on one side, but I've never seen that much before, and it don’t look natural, looks like glue streaking to me or like the bundle was stood on end in something. And we know they don’t store plywood on end. If you don't mind telling us, what did they charge you per sheet? That would help us know if it was discounted or not. Those look like 4 x 8 sheets, don’t think I've seen true Baltic plywood that wasn't metric. How many layers does it have?
In any case, our opinion is not going to help you much. I would call the seller, that’s a big order; he should make it good unless it was marked down! They will not want to lose a big buyer like you. Most of us can only get 3-4 sheets at a time. Let us know how it turns out.
Harry
The TX one


----------



## Plywoodny (Sep 6, 2009)

Old_Chipper said:


> I think Mark is correct. Dropping them wouldn't give that kind of streaking. Are the patterns of the streaks the same on each sheet? like booking. That would tell you if it was something in the wood. Some natural streaking is allowed on one side, but I've never seen that much before, and it don’t look natural, looks like glue streaking to me or like the bundle was stood on end in something. And we know they don’t store plywood on end. If you don't mind telling us, what did they charge you per sheet? That would help us know if it was discounted or not. Those look like 4 x 8 sheets, don’t think I've seen true Baltic plywood that wasn't metric. How many layers does it have?
> In any case, our opinion is not going to help you much. I would call the seller, that’s a big order; he should make it good unless it was marked down! They will not want to lose a big buyer like you. Most of us can only get 3-4 sheets at a time. Let us know how it turns out.
> Harry
> The TX one


Well the whole bundle has this same streaking all 27 sheets. This is a 3/4" 4x8
13ply. Side that is shown is BB and other side is C and it does not have those streaks, that is why I freaked out. Well I will address my manufacturer since this bundle came a long way from Russia. As for pricing I can say only one thing is that I just started Birch Plywood Import business (accidentaly LOL and I am on a steep learning curve) at this point I am selling BB/C 3/4" 4x8 at $38 per sheet. In total I have 27 crates 1/2 and 3/4 c/c cp/c bb/c b/bb that came in on a first shipment, I have not unpacked all of them, but looks like majority of other crates are fine. Well I guess rule of first pancake is at work in my case also. If you do not mind my question, what is baltic birch sells for in your area(wholesale wise)?

Thnks


----------



## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

I would be making a phone call if it were me.


----------



## Wild Horse (Sep 9, 2009)

I agree with the above posts...especially about making a phone call. Geez, it almost looks like the top veneer has a tapered runoff ?!?! I work with the stuff, but I don't make the stuff....I'd be curious enough to run a mic on the good end, then on the end in question to see if there's a difference. Regardless, you've got 27 sheets of 4x7 now, not 4x8.


----------



## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Oh I bet your right about the taper. Definitely looks like they used paper thin veneer on a thickness tapered board and ran it through a sander.


----------



## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

I agree take it back.


----------



## CanuckGal (Nov 26, 2008)

$38 a sheet????? Geez I paid that much for a 2x4 piece at HD and it was almost C/C grade - terrible voids and patches. I wouldn't buy anymore there. I haven't found anyone in my area that sells 4x8 sheets, best is 5x5. Maybe I could open a franchise for you here in Canada???


----------



## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

About $45+ a sheet here.
I wonder if the wood can be bleached to get rid of the discoloration.


----------



## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Would probably gray it something terrible.


----------



## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

AxlMyk said:


> About $45+ a sheet here.
> I wonder if the wood can be bleached to get rid of the discoloration.


Mike,

13-ply Baltic Birch in 4x8 sheets?

I've been told that if only comes in 5x5 sheets... I don't know why that would be though.


----------



## Julie (Sep 11, 2004)

If you look carefully at the "damaged" end there is a repeating pattern there, so this is not a stain, it was something in the original wood veneer.

~Julie~


----------



## Plywoodny (Sep 6, 2009)

Well after thorough research and investigation, I have discovered that this is normal discoloration. This instance occures on all sheets in that particular batch and it is veneer related. Picture is somewhat innacurate due to the improper lighting conditions but after all it's ok to have it. Some of the similar sheets at home depot have same discoloration where in some cases it is even worse. 

Thank you very much all for your help.


----------



## Plywoodny (Sep 6, 2009)

BigJimAK said:


> Mike,
> 
> 13-ply Baltic Birch in 4x8 sheets?
> 
> I've been told that if only comes in 5x5 sheets... I don't know why that would be though.


Not sure where that info came from but sizes for baltic birch range from 5X5 to 4X10 and thickness from 1/4" to 1.5"


----------



## CanuckGal (Nov 26, 2008)

Alexey I saw some of the sheets at HD today and you are correct, they had the same discoloration. I thought of yours as soon as I saw them.


----------



## Plywoodny (Sep 6, 2009)

CanuckGal said:


> Alexey I saw some of the sheets at HD today and you are correct, they had the same discoloration. I thought of yours as soon as I saw them.



Thnks for the info, I saw it too in HD. 

Eventually I discovered whole lot of info on it with help of manufacturer of course. Well this instance occures when a tree was cut in a spring, so when veneers are peeled off, a part of the tree carries discoloration thus an end of the sheet would have such streaking. As it was mentioned it's perfectly fine and acceptable. Some woodcrafters use this occurence to their advantage, when making their crafts. Also as it was told but not actually tried yet, when wood is died, those streaks tend to dissapear. 

Thank you guys for your opinions and help.


----------



## CNCWOODWORKER (Oct 19, 2009)

Depending on the finish, like if you use shading or toning, it may not be too noticible. We bought thousands of sheets of this stuff, and I never remember seeing that. However, I do believe we specified white. I'm also a little leary of some of the stuff people are trying to sell these days. We ran into problems a few years ago due to a severe winter in the growing region, which limited the supply. My understanding is that baltic birch is typically only cut in winter to get around these and other types of problems. Same with spruce used for tonewoods. 
We also had the same experience, it was always most readily available in 5x5 sheets, but were were using mostly 1" stuff.


----------

