Big Plywood sale..

[Rick Fisher]

Once a year, we have a huge tent sale at the building supply store..

So I did something fun.. I brought in 2 lifts of 1/2 Baltic Birch BB and 2 lifts of 1/4" Baltic Birch BB .. Each had about 4-5 football patches but both are made in the Ukraine, or Russia..

In short, this is nice stuff.. This is the mid grade Baltic Birch.. not the clear face, but not the C grade..

I also brought in lots of lifts of 3/4" White Birch ply.. Made in China, and a few lifts of 1/2" China Birch ply.. This stuff is crap.. :) Borg quality ply.


So the Newspaper ad read as follows..

1/2" Baltic Birch 5x5 sheets $24.97 per sheet..
1/4" Baltic Birch 5x5 sheets $18.97 per sheet..
3/4" Import Birch ply 4x8 sheets $29.97
1/2" Import Birch ply 4x8 sheets $24.97

I told the warehouse guy.. If the Baltic gets down to 10 sheets of each, mark them sold :)

The big 2 day sale is over.. No Import Birch Crap plywood remains..

We sold 31 sheets of 1/2" Baltic Birch and 20 sheets of 1/4" ..

Lots of Baltic left for me..

What is wrong with people.. ???

We made $5.00 a sheet on the Import Birch ply.. Made almost Zip on the 1/4" Baltic Birch ply, and $2.00 on the 1/2" .. ????

If you guys wonder why retailers sell this crap.. Its because we cant even give away the good stuff..


I am in the Business. We stock Baltic and sell .. 20 sheets a year.. I would like to think that $18.97 for 1/4" Russian Baltic birch is a decent bargain? I had to get a special deal from the wholesaler to even do that price.. (these are Canuck prices.. equivalent to about $16.99 in USD. )

My warehouse guy told me I didnt buy enough of the 4x8 Import sheets.. Says we could have sold a bunch more.. :(

[Phil Thien]

Maybe people just don't know the difference. Or maybe it is the 5x5 vs. 4x8 size issue.

I wonder what would have happened if, instead of labeling them Baltic Birch and Import Birch, if you had used the "high-grade" for the Baltic" and "mid-grade" (being generous) for the Chinese.

[Steve knight]

the 5x5 can be a pain. I buy Russian birch in 4x8 sheets. the birch and the appleply are the best plywood's to cut on my cnc router.

[Dan Forman]

I buy Baltic Birch, but have to have it cut to a 4' width to get it into my small Toyota pickup.

Dan

[Jeffrey Makiel]

So the good stuff is $1 per square foot and the cheap stuff is 75 cents per square foot.

I think the size may have more to do with it: 5x5 vs. 4x8. It think folks are more accustomed to 4x8....plus it's 25% less.

-Jeff :)

[Art Mulder]

I also wonder about the size issue ...

But then again, I almost always have the lumber yard make the first cut when I buy plywood, so 4x8 or 5x5 makes no difference to me. I just need to have things planned out before I go to the store.

Still that was a pretty nice price, I might have bought a couple.
(I have a roof rack on the van now, so I don't have to have it pre-cut...)

...art

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Rick, the sawmill I deal with sells the 5 foot square sheets of Baltic birch plywood, and they sell very well.

I always phone ahead to make sure that they haven't run out before going up to buy some.

I'm not sure what's with people, maybe the sheet size was weird for them, however for cabinets it's a great size.

Oh well, at least you had some left for yourself!:D

Regards, Rod.

[Stephen Edwards]

I have to drive appx 50 miles to get any kind of plywood other than Chinese. I can get some American made from a big cabinet shop who also supplies other cabinet shops and woodworkers. When I want BB, I order it and have it cut to sizes that will ship UPS. It's either that or drive more than 100 miles for BB!

[Tony Bilello]

Most Americans like cheap crap. Evidence.......Home Depot, Ikea, Walmart.
Even on this forum we see from time to time "I want to build a quality piece of furniture. Where can I get the cheapest wood?"
How about tools? Anyone here talk much about Euro brand tools or just mainly Chinese? I too am guilty of the above, but to a lesser degree than most, but still guilty.
Maybe someday Americans will become quality conscious again.

[Ted Capra]

Is it safe to assume plywood of any grade is no longer made in the United States?

[Joe Spear]

Is it safe to assume plywood of any grade is no longer made in the United States?


I believe ApplePly is made in the U.S.

[Thomas S Stockton]

Lots of plywood is still made here Columbia Forest products, States industries and a few others all make plywood in the U.S. You usually won't find it at the big box places, you need to go to the hardwood dealers.
Tom

[Rick Fisher]

There is still lots of domestic production of Hardwood plywood.. It just isnt $29.95 a sheet for 3/4" ..

The Baltic Birch on sale is weird, it was done to drive business in a recession.. Didn't work. lol..

I love Baltic Birch.. So I stock it at the store.. If I didnt love it, we wouldn't even stock it. :D

I think it sucks that people care so little about quality.. I guess its the reason we, as a continent are closing factories and have high unemployment..

If Sawmill Creek was a store, I am sure I would have sold a truckload of the stuff. Really, I told this story because I thought it would be interesting to hear the retailers side of the story on crap plywood..

[kevin a jones]

I can get the USA ply from Menards. They also have something they call Baltic Birch with a "made in china" stamp on the end. I stick the US ply, it also has a thicker face veneer.

[Rick Fisher]

The Baltic Birch made in China is not nearly as nice as the made in Russia.

I tried it once.. it cut like.. Chinese Borg Ply.. really chippy..

The Russian Baltic cuts like a slab of glass.

[Al Willits]

""""""""
If you guys wonder why retailers sell this crap.. Its because we cant even give away the good stuff..
"""""""

I'm not so sure, considering the average guy who buys at the Borgs is not a custom cabinet maker and is probably just a weekend warrior, I'd think one, the size probably throws them, almost every basic plan or article that talks about using plywood starts with a 4x8 sheet, also if the weekend warrior tries for a better grade and hits the wrong lumberyard for plywood, he could end up spending way more than they wanted to.

One lumberyard in downtown Mpls had the 3/4" white oak VC A-1 plywood that I wanted for well over $200 a sheet, if I had stopped looking then, I'd still be buying plywood at HD.

Also if many are like me and find the plywood at the borgs can be a bit sporadic in quality and are tired of reglueing laminates, they are buying better grade at a higher cost at other sources.

I've pretty much went to shop grade at our local lumberyard for all my basic plywood needs, more expensive than the borg, but it doesn't warp or split like the Borg stuff can.

Maybe?

Al

[Paul Johnstone]

If you guys wonder why retailers sell this crap.. Its because we cant even give away the good stuff..



Maybe whoever is interacting with the customers could help explain the difference in quality. Think about it. Some customers went home with the Borg grade quality plywood and now probably figure that there's no point in going to your store, because the quality is the same as HD. Next time, think of this as an opportunity to show the customer that you do stock better quality stuff. Yea, probably at least 1/2 of them won't care and will still buy the sheet that is cheapest per square inch, but those guys aren't as likely to be in this hobby for the long term.

[Conrad Fiore]

If you check HD, you will find plywood marked Columbia Forest Products made in USA PUREBOND. The core is made of poplar veneer and the PUREBOND designates it is formaldehyde glue free. HD was have too many problems and complaints with the "cheap" import plywood, so they decided to go American and raise the price accordingly. It is 100% better than the import and you don't have to worry about any glue fumes off-gassing.