Baltic Birch

[ScottM]

Please do not turn this into a political discussion. I am posting for awareness only. I have been following a couple discussions on other WW forums. People who do a lot of scroll saw and laser cutting work use lot of Baltic Birch plywood for various reasons (lack of void, multiple layers, thickness of the surface layer, etc). A lot of WW use it for shop jigs and cabinet casings. I know when we built new cabinets for our recent church expansion the cabinet casings were all BB with oak face frames. Well for those who do not know the main producer / exporter of BB is Russia. Yes, a few other countries produce it but not in the same quantity. So what is being reported on the other forums is suppliers in the US and Canada are running out of BB and will not be getting further shipments for the foreseeable future. So if you have it use it wisely and start looking for other options.

 

[Roy G]

I believe Charlie Brown said it first. "Aaugh!"

Roy G

 

[Raymond]

I have a friend who used the following material instead of plywood in his RV overhaul for flooring. I know it is not the same but when things get tight - look for alternatives.

Boedeker Plastics, Inc. > Product

www.boedeker.com

 

[BSHuff]

Based on the current prices for BB, it might be cheaper to build out of gold bars. The 5X5 sheets of 3/4 crossed over $100 at my last look.

 

[mdbuntyn]

There's a product called Appleply that's supposed to be a domestic equivalent, more or less. I've never tried to buy BB, so I don't know it stacks up, pricewise.

https://www.buyappleply.com/default.asp

 

[Dreuxgrad]

Based on the current prices for BB, it might be cheaper to build out of gold bars. The 5X5 sheets of 3/4 crossed over $100 at my last look.

Sat next to a $140 stack of 3/4 equivalent at last month's Dallas Area Woodturners mtg, Wood World is not the least expensive in this area

 

[smallboat]

HArdwoodstore of NC in Gibsonvile stocks “Domestic Birch” plywood in 4x8 sheets. As with the other options discussed it’s not the same as BB but is still nice material.

 

[Donna Wynne]

There's a product called Appleply that's supposed to be a domestic equivalent, more or less. I've never tried to buy BB, so I don't know it stacks up, pricewise.

https://www.buyappleply.com/default.asp

Last week I was buying some Baltic birch, I got 10 sheets of 18 mm 1220 x 2440 (what normal folks would call 3/4" 4'x8'), plus some odds and ends, for a whopping $2,400 and change. Talk about a case of serious sticker shock!!! I asked about getting a half-bunk of Appleply, the good stuff I used to buy regularly when I lived in Pasadena and later in San Francisco. I was told by the dealer (Horizon Forest Products), that while they can get it, they don't generally stock it in Raleigh, but their price is probably close to 15-20% MORE than the Russian imported stuff. At the rate things are going, we may look back at the current cost of Baltic birch and think, "Ah, remember way back when Baltic birch was a bargain?" But for now, as much as I loathe the stuff, MDF is beginning to look a whole lot better.

 

[Oka]

I paid 115.00 for 3/4 BB today , in Hawaii, up from 80.00 last year

 

[bowman]

There's a product called Appleply that's supposed to be a domestic equivalent, more or less. I've never tried to buy BB, so I don't know it stacks up, pricewise.

https://www.buyappleply.com/default.asp

I browsed the site and saw that not only did the prices look higher, the biggest size i saw was 2'x8'

 

[smallboat]

Hardwood Store of NC - Plywood pricing

 

[mdbuntyn]

I browsed the site and saw that not only did the prices look higher, the biggest size i saw was 2'x8'

Oops. I saw 48" and 96", but I didn't look close enough to see that they weren't together.

 

[Tim Sherwood]

I usually use the Marine ply from the Harswood store. Many more layers and in 4x8 sheets.