3-Ply Baltic Birch Plywood

[Joe Pelonio]

I remember a discussion on this once before, no one seemed to have a source for this. All of the available baltic was 5 ply. I did a job for a design student and she brought in the wood, it was called "Craft Plywood" by Midwest. Apparently they make wood thins largely for the RC airplane hobbyists, so while craft stores have their balsa and basswood, this stuff in 12"x24" and some others are sold in Hobby shops. There's no indication that it's Baltic Birch, but it does look like it, and the 1/8" she brought in cuts like butter with no charring.

http://www.midwestproducts.com/

[Dave Jones]

The 1/8" baltic birch ply I get from Sloans is 3-ply (so is the 1/16" finland ply):

http://www.sloanswoodshop.com/plywoods.htm

[Joe Pelonio]

Thanks Dave, I just checked Sloans, they are cheaper too.

[Patrick Licata]

I'm guessing that there must be different processes for manufacturing Baltic Birch. Does anyone have particular specs for Baltic Birch or is it hit or miss. I purchased some from Sloan's, 1/8 and 1/4. The 1/8 laser cut ok, but my 35watt wouldn't cut through the 1/4 even after 2 to 3 passes. Of course by then it was a charred mess. I even sent some pieces to "Buzz" at Laser-Buzz and he was unable to cut through them. Something to do with the glues and resins used to layer the wood we surmised. When I called Sloan's, they told me they don't guarantee the wood will laser cut because they sell mostly for saw cutting. But they we more than happy to take back what I didn't use and I had them send me a different wood. This is NOT a knock on Sloan's. Their customer service was very good and they were very friendly. "Buzz" has a list of suppliers for Baltic Birch some with what seemed very good pricing depending upon where you are.

[Dave Jones]

That's interesting. I bought an assortment of their baltic birch ply back in May and have cut the 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" with my 45 watt Epilog-Mini in single passes without problems. Maybe different batches came from different sources and used different glues? Or maybe one of the inner plies wasn't birch?

[James Rambo]

I got 1/8 inch baltic birch from ken craft corp. in toledo. I have cut 15 or 16, 12" x 24" sheets with my 60 watt epilog at 45% power - 85% speed with no problem. They have 5' x 5' sheets at 8.95 and they cut this into 12 x 60 sheets and ups'd it to me. and it seems to be very uniform in thickness.

[Michael McDuffie]

My understanding from Sloans (IIRC), is that there are two glues used to make plywood. One is intended for indoor while the other is more water resistant. The indoor grade cuts more easily.

Michael

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Michael is correct about the interior and exterior glues. We stock 3B 3mm Russian Birch with interior glue and offer it for .75 a foot cut to just under 12" x 24" sheets and are perfect for LaserBuzz tributes and more. They are ready to use right out of the box. You get 24 -12" x 24" sheets and 2 - 12" x 12" sheets for around 50 square feet in a box. We just reactivated our paypal account so we can take CC's now so it will be more convenient than having to send a check. I checked the other websites mentioned and our price for 3b 3mm Russian Birch is excellent. So if you do not have a table saw or a way to transport it, if you can even find a local supplier, we can help you. We use this material all the time on our 60 watt Trotec laser doing our own designs and Laser Buzz tributes. All of the above measurements are rounded up to the nearest inch so If anyone wants more info, please PM me and I will be happy to send you a pdf file describing it in more detail.

[John Esberg]

In my region, Atlantic Plywood is the best price you will find for the 1/8" good one side Baltic Birch Plywood. It's about $330 for 30 sheets of 5' x 5' material (as of yesterday when I dropped another order). It also comes with free delivery.

Now that's what I pay up here. It's definitely different in other areas. To find my vendor, I started with word of mouth and then went through yellow pages, followed railroad tracks, to the yellow pages, to the internet and overhead satellite photos, and back to the yellow pages. Lesson learned: be creative on finding new vendors.

Till later,

DAK

[Will Morrow]

Michael Kowalczyk, I'd be interested in buying a box of your 3b 3mm Russian birch it it is suitable for pyrography work....Here in N Calif I can't come across it very easy. Send me details on order info pls. thanks Will

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks Wil,
I will PM you the info.

[Dennis Watson]

Michael is correct about the interior and exterior glues. We stock 3B 3mm Russian Birch with interior glue and offer it for .75 a foot cut to just under 12" x 24" sheets and are perfect for LaserBuzz tributes and more. They are ready to use right out of the box. You get 24 -12" x 24" sheets and 2 - 12" x 12" sheets for around 50 square feet in a box. We just reactivated our paypal account so we can take CC's now so it will be more convenient than having to send a check. I checked the other websites mentioned and our price for 3b 3mm Russian Birch is excellent. So if you do not have a table saw or a way to transport it, if you can even find a local supplier, we can help you. We use this material all the time on our 60 watt Trotec laser doing our own designs and Laser Buzz tributes. All of the above measurements are rounded up to the nearest inch so If anyone wants more info, please PM me and I will be happy to send you a pdf file describing it in more detail.

I found this searching "Birch". Michael, do you still have some?
I want to make a few 3D puzzles.

[Mike Null]

Guys,

I'm closing this thread as it has turned into a sales pitch. A reminder, classified ads belong in the classified forum and cannot be to promote regular lines of merchandise. Classified ads can only be posted by contributors.

Self promotion is not permitted on Sawmill Creek.

PM's are permissible but please do not use the forum to transact business.