Why is Baltic Birch 5X5 instead of 4X8?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I know there has to be a reason that I'm too befuddled or addled to see.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Here is a cut and paste from the SMC archive.
Because BB is produced in countries using metric measurements and it is 1.5 meters x 1.5 meters and 12mm or 19mm thick. Not 5' x 5' and not 1/2" or 3/4" thick.

[George Bokros]

If I recall correctly from what I read is it originated in Europe and that is the size of their sheet goods.

From Maurice's post 1.5 meters converts to 4.92 ft.

[Paul F Franklin]

Some suppliers carry Baltic-like birch in 4 x 8 sheet sizes. Same general construction with uniform plies and no voids, just in US sheet sizes. No idea where it originates.

[jack duren]

It’s came in 4x8 and 4x6. Usually 4x6 will be only a few bundles of 4x6.

[Larry Edgerton]

5x5's work out great for cabinets when using adjustable feet. they also work out better for the 30" deep cabinets I often incorporate into kitchens. I like.

[John Pendery]

My local supplier carries both 4x8 and 5x5 Baltic birch in most thicknesses. Pretty sure I remember seeing the edge of the 4x8 stuff stamped with Russia, just like most 5x5 sheets, but could be wrong. I know some Baltic products are manufactured in Finland, and I assume across the entire “Baltic” region. Like Larry I usually prefer/buy 5x5 sheets. The 4x8 they stock around here are annoyingly a true 48”x96” as opposed to being slightly oversized for squaring up

[jack duren]

Many shops around here stopped using it because of the price..

[Christopher Herzog]

My supplier stopped carrying it. Too expensive and inconsistent sourcing. I miss it....

Chris

[Ray Selinger]

The Baltic birch I got was from Russia, which might explain the supply issue. It's metric. The supplier would have 4x8 sheets,as well as the 1.5m x 1.5m, but still in metric thickness . I got one of his last 12mm 4x8 sheets recently. Dado stacks aren't a problem, but router bits require a trip to the tool store.

[mike stenson]

Why would there be an imperial thickness?

[John TenEyck]

My supplier stopped carrying it. Too expensive and inconsistent sourcing. I miss it....

Chris

The price has come down to reasonable levels from my supplier, maybe 10% higher than pre-pandemic. He always had material in stock, too, but the quality was poor for a while. Check with your supplier again if you want/need some, or look for a new one, because it's available.

I've never seen 4 x 8 ft sheets with Cyrillic writing on it, only 1.5 x 1.5 m.

John

[Mark Wedel]

When I bought a bunch of baltic birch ~4 years ago, it was in 4x8 sheets and from Russia (Cyrillic writing on it)

More recently I've bought some, also in 4x8 sheets (different supplier), but it is coming from Vietnam or other place in SE Asia. Sort of blurs the meaning of 'Baltic'. But the material looks otherwise identical to the Russian material (same surface, no voids, etc). Price seems reasonable now - at one point, BB was selling for ~3x the price of the stuff I bought 4 years ago - now it might be more like 1.5x the price.

I do wonder if location has any impact on the source of the BB - I'm on the west coast, so importing from Asia vs Europe may make sense via shipping, but opposite might be true for east coast.

[John Pendery]

It’s strange how varied pricing and availability seem to have fluctuated from region to region here in the US since Russia invaded Ukraine. Prices here doubled for a short period and have since gone down considerably to what I consider normal and acceptable. Availability was never an issue from my closest supplier a few miles from my shop (Aetna). I was there a few days ago and they had stacks of it in every thickness from 3mm to 25mm

[Patty Hann]

For a while BB (at the supplier I use) was a little more than 2.5 X pre-pandemic pricing (PPP).
All 5x5 and typical metric thickness, [approx] 1/8" to 3/4".
It's come down to a little more than 2X PPP. It seems to be the same quality.
I don't like the price but I don't use much and (so far) I can still use it without breaking the budget.