Baltic Birch for router cabinet?

[Steven J Corpstein]

I am going to build a Jointech Routing Center and want it to come out really nice, but above all, strong. I realize it is shop furniture but still want it to look good since this is my first REAL project. Is there any advantage to using Baltic Birch besides the strength advantage? I plan on staining it with a dark Cherry colored aniline dye and using solid Maple for the face frames.

[Cecil Arnold]

My only comment is that it seems to me to be a bit overbuilt. Depending on where you live you might save a few bucks using Oak for the frame, and while I really like BB, any grade of ply should give you more than enough strenght. One other thing that comes to mind is that when I have used dye on BB it really seems to soak it up and there doesn't seem to be any grain to show.

[Todd Burch]

Baltic Birch would be a fine choice for any shop cabinet. Here are a few of my woodworker notes on BB for you to digest:

There appears to be different grades of BB. Sometimes it's great and flat, other times there seems to be a lot of built-in tension, making the sheet want to bow and flex, as if the middle of the sheet has expanded and the edges haven't. Look for sheets that would hold water and skip those. (Maybe this is more of an issue of factory quality control than grade - I'm not sure)

Count on not using the outer 1" perimeter, but if you can, good for you. The sanding process of BB seems to be aggress and many times I have come across sheets where the edges are tapered from sanding. If you machine a dado to exactly fit the factory edge, it may not fit an interior cut, and vice versa, a dado cut to fit an interior cut may be sloppy for a factory edge thickness.

I don't know what the factories use to sand BB sheets, but the factory sanding scratches, while straight, are very deep. It's a lot of work to get all the factory sanding scratches out.

Look closely for delaminations around the perimeter. If you find any, chances are pretty good there are many more in the interior of the sheet. These can also be identified by bubbles in the outer veneer layer. A tap-tap with your finger and you can audibly here the delamination. Run (to your next supplier) if you see a lot of these.

BB should not have very many voids. Look at the edge of the stack. If you see many, pass on the stack, there may be issues with that lot. (Same with the bowing issue above.)

Usually, it comes 60" x 60". I've run into stock several times that was 58" x 60". Don't know why, but I refused to pay full price, and was given a discount without much back-talk.

I've paid anywhere from $18 to $28 a sheet. I used it ALL the time. Since the surfce is so sliced and diced by factory sanding, it does take stain fairly well. But if you sand them all out up to 220, good luck getting a pigment stain to take.

I guess that's it.

Todd

[Mac McAtee]

You would get quite nice result from ordinary cabinet grade plywood from the local building supply. There is nothing magic about Baltic birch plywood. It has it's uses but using it for cabinetry is kind of a waste of money. Put the savings in a higher quality hardware selection.

[Doug Shepard]

Just MHO, but I think there's also a lot of cases where you can skip adding solid wood or iron-on edging on BB ply, which speeds up and simplifies project construction. I don't find the BB ply edges at all objectionable compared to the edges on other ply.
Echoing some of Todd's comments on the voids and delaminations - you ARE coupling this cabinet to a vibrating motor. In general your odds of avoiding problems of buzzing and sympathetic vibrations are probably better with the BB but like Todd said - make sure you pick good sheets whatever you use.

[Bartee Lamar]

I use a plywood named "SandePly" from HD. for 3/4 this is 7 ply. It is somewhat lightweight but it is plywood and NOT MDF. I have had great sucess with pocket hole screws. Some voids but very workable. One side is really good and the other side at least smooth.

It does come in 1/4 1/2 and 3/4 ( as all plywood today the sizes are a bit smaller )

It is less exspensive than real birch ply.

[Michael Gibbons]

I used 3/4 birch plywood from the BORG and my cabinet works great. Don't spend extra money onBB ply if you don't have to.


mike

[Todd Burch]

@ $20 a sheet for 5' x 5' of baltic birch, that's $1.25 square foot. What are you buying sheet goods for @ at the Borg, and what grade are they? How much extra money are talking here?

[Alan Turner]

I use plywood rarely, but keep it around for jigs and patterns in 3, 6, 12, and 18mm thicknesses. I think it is great stuff and is much, much stronger than regular ply. I would think it would be excellent for a router table, but as Todd mentioned, it is not easy to find BB that is completely flat. I order mine from a wholesaler, and it comes off the top of the stack. I buy so little that I feel priviliged to purchase, and just make do. A bunch of returns and I think my privileges might be cancelled. Were I a larger purchaser I would feel more comfortable being demanding.

I used it for my larger shop cab. drawers, hand dovetailed of course as I couldn't resist giving it a try (worked fine), and the bottom one holds two 50# patternmakers weights, and the heavy old Delta tenoning jig, plus 3 routers and some other stuff. Must be about 225 lbs. I did use a 12mm bottom on that one, and have had no problems. The edge is a bit of a sleek, modern look.