Baltic birch plywood cost ?

[milehiscroll]

If I pay $2.50 for a 1/4x12x12 piece of Baltic birch plywood does that really add up to $10.00 bucks a board foot.?

 

[dgman]

Plywood typically is not measured in board feet as is Hardwoods. Hardwoods take into account thickness x width x length. Plywood is measured in thickness by board size. A board foot is 1”x12”x12”. If you were going to measure plywood by board feet, your 1/4” x12x12” plywood would be 1/4 board foot. Keep in mind plywood is layers of wood laminated together as opposed to hardwood which is solid wood, not manufactured.

Edited August 24, 2019 by dgman

[CharleyL]

Right now I can buy a full sheet of 1/4" Baltic Birch for about $23. You would get about 25 sq ft of plywood that way. Even if it cost 2X more where you live, you will be saving significantly by buying full sheets and cutting it up yourself. Find a local source for the full sheets.

With metal knees and heart problems, I can no longer use a foam sheet to support my work or work at floor level when breaking sheets down. I made a cutting table for breaking down sheet stock outside my small shop. It's just a 23" X 70" frame (exact size not critical) made from 1 X 4 pine with 5 short lengths of 2 X 4 laid flat and flush with the top surface of the 1 X 4 frame, one of these across the center and then two more at each end where the banquet table legs (from Harbor Freight) needed to attach. All of the joints were made with biscuits and glue, so the only metal in the wood are the short screws that attach the banquet table legs. These legs fold up into the lower side of the table, so the folded size is only 3 1/2" thick. It stores easily against my sheet stock and comes out first when I need to break a sheet down.

I use long aluminum straight edge clamps for guides. One is 50" long and the other is 102". These are available from Peachtree Woodworking www.ptreeusa.com , but you can use any straight edge that you already have, like a board and clamps. I have made a zero clearance kind of shoe for my circular saw. It's a piece of clear Lexan the size of my saw's shoe with a clearance hole large enough for the blade guard to operate through it, AT the front of this hole is a thin slit for the area of the saw blade teeth to rise up through it. This is the actual zero clearance function, and it keeps the wood splinters from lifting as the blade teeth rise up through it. I've been doing it this way since before track saws became available, so never felt that I could justify buying a track saw.

In use, I set the saw blade depth to cut about 1/4" deeper than the material that I will be cutting, and I position the sheet stock so the cut line is roughly above the center of the cutting table. You can make a complete cut and the table will hold both pieces well enough that the blade can complete the cut without either piece falling and breaking near the end of the cut. I don't worry about the resulting kerf in the table since it is very shallow and no where deep enough for the saw blade to hit metal. If I ever make so many cuts in the table surface that it becomes difficult to use, I'll make a new table and transfer the legs to it.

If I need very accurate sizes of the pieces that I cut from the sheet, I cut them about 1/4" over size and then trim them to final size inside my shop on my Unisaw. This table is light enough to easily carry and set up, and I have almost completely given up my use of saw horses since building it. When doing work away from my shop I always take it with me. When I use my miter saw I place a piece of plywood large enough for the saw on the center of the front edge of the table and attach it with two screws to the center 2 X 4. The the saw gets placed on this piece of plywood. I then have areas on either side of and behind the saw to hold my trim pieces while cutting them. 

Charley

[don in brooklin on]

I am from Canada and Baltic Birch cost 16.75 for 1/8 inch and 26.90 for 1/4 inch.  (CDN$ plus 13%tax)

My supplier will give you one cut for transportation.  So I buy usually 2 sheets at a time and them stack it so I end up with 1/4 sheets.

The grade I get is BB/BB which means -  BB/BB: Single piece face and back. Both face and back veneers allow 3-6 small color-matched patches on average and some light mineral streaks. Tight pin knots may be present. Inner cores are solid single piece veneers.

I can work around any plugs or blemishes for the work I do. B/BB is really expensive and harder to find.

 

[fredfret]

To answer your question.  Yes that is 10 dollars a board foot. It costs for every cut they make. Start with a 5x5 panel make the cuts to get it down to 1x1 16 cuts required. Note 5 of the pieces will be shorter than 12x12" due to kerf.

[don watson]

I received a quote last week from the local wood merchant and his prices were for genuine Baltic Birch Ply

2440 x 1220 x 6mm     £41

2440 x 1220 x 9mm    £41.30

2440 x 1220 12mm     £54

These prices are Ex. VAT. I don't know the vat rate, around 20% I think.  I asked for a quote as our scroll saw group in the 'Mens Shed' as going to have a go at making wooden geared clocks and it needs the best of wood.

[decker7]

hello Don, I'm in the uk, I was mucking about buying plywood here and there

Then i started to buy from trustleaf,  not sure about the value, 

They on ebay 25 sheets 600mm by 300  6mm which is almost 24" by 12" for £47.50  free delivery  if i need 12mm  i glue  up

Their service is good

[crupiea]

Place by me is $12 for a 5'x 5' 1/8"

1/4" 5' x 5' is about $16.  I am super happy I have this place around. 

 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, don watson said:

I received a quote last week from the local wood merchant and his prices were for genuine Baltic Birch Ply

2440 x 1220 x 6mm     £41

2440 x 1220 x 9mm    £41.30

2440 x 1220 12mm     £54

These prices are Ex. VAT. I don't know the vat rate, around 20% I think.  I asked for a quote as our scroll saw group in the 'Mens Shed' as going to have a go at making wooden geared clocks and it needs the best of wood.

Don, I want to try a wooden gear clock sometime. Will you please take pics and let us see your work as it progresses? I'd love to follow along.

 

[OCtoolguy]

40 minutes ago, crupiea said:

Place by me is $12 for a 5'x 5' 1/8"

1/4" 5' x 5' is about $16.  I am super happy I have this place around. 

 

Hey Crupeia, since we are pretty close to each other, would you mind sharing your place of choice? I found Cherokee Wood Products but unless I want to drive out there, they would only ship cut down pieces. At least, that's what I think they said. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll check it out. But, I'd like to find out your source too.

 

[crupiea]

4 hours ago, octoolguy said:

Hey Crupeia, since we are pretty close to each other, would you mind sharing your place of choice? I found Cherokee Wood Products but unless I want to drive out there, they would only ship cut down pieces. At least, that's what I think they said. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll check it out. But, I'd like to find out your source too.

 

 

Th & H hardwood. 
It says on their site there is a location in Santa Ana in says it on the front page.  I dont know anything about them so you would have to call.

http://www.th-h.com/locations.htm
 

 

Did some searching and this is the sister store to the one near me or so it says it is.  Might want to call them to make sure they have the BB.

https://austinhardwoodsonline.com/our-location/

Edited August 25, 2019 by crupiea

[ike]

I get it for $20 for a5"x5" sheet

[Woodmaster1]

I buy mine from lljohnson's Workbench for $15.40 a sheet 5x5. They have a wood expo where you can get even more off the cost. I plan on picking up some at the expo the first weekend after Labor Day. They are the cheapest source I have found in my area for the excellent quality of the plywood.

[don watson]

@octoolguy, Hi Ray I can take pictures as we go along. We have a book and will need to pick out the one we want to make first. Getting this wood is imperative to our project.

[OCtoolguy]

16 hours ago, crupiea said:

 

Th & H hardwood. 
It says on their site there is a location in Santa Ana in says it on the front page.  I dont know anything about them so you would have to call.

http://www.th-h.com/locations.htm
 

 

Did some searching and this is the sister store to the one near me or so it says it is.  Might want to call them to make sure they have the BB.

https://austinhardwoodsonline.com/our-location/

Thanks. I've been there many times. Wonderful store. I'll give them a call.

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, don watson said:

@octoolguy, Hi Ray I can take pictures as we go along. We have a book and will need to pick out the one we want to make first. Getting this wood is imperative to our project.

That would be great. Please keep me updated and if you have a book, I'd like to to get the same book so we would all be on the same page. As the saying goes.

Edited August 26, 2019 by octoolguy

[don watson]

@Ray, Will check when I get back to the shed tomorrow (Tuesday) but I think the book was bought from Amazon.

We did start with a simple gear meshing example and I will have a look for that later when I have had my medication.

Don W

[OCtoolguy]

6 hours ago, don watson said:

@Ray, Will check when I get back to the shed tomorrow (Tuesday) but I think the book was bought from Amazon.

We did start with a simple gear meshing example and I will have a look for that later when I have had my medication.

Don W

Thanks, I look forward to it.

[don watson]

@decker7, I would expect to get 16 x (600 x 300) sheets from a standard 2440 x 1220 sheet. At  £47.50 for 25 sheets that would seem to be a bargain compared to my 16 sheets for £41. If delivery is free up here it will be worthwhile. I will check out trustleaf immediately.

[munzieb]

I have been using this web site for a few years and they have given me good service. Prices don't include freight and it may take a few day to get depending on the shipping service.

http://www.woodnshop.net/baltic-birch-plywood/

[don watson]

On 8/26/2019 at 5:09 PM, octoolguy said:

Thanks, I look forward to it.

@Ray, I have visited the 'Shed' today and tried to gather a few facts about the wooden gear clocks we want to make.

Firstly the book we are using is "Making Wooden Gear Clocks" by the editors of 'Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts' Magazine that we purchased from Amazon. The clock we are concentrating on is the 'Genesis Wooden Gear Clock'. We have cut a couple of the gears to see what it was like as a project and I think it will be quite good, I am at the moment trying to burn the numbers on the wheels we have cut, I hope to do that using the Laser Engraver.

I have attached a pic of the book, (I believe the pic on the front of the book is the Genesis), a pic of the 3 gears cut so far and ready to have the numbers burnt on and lastly a gratuitous pic of the nativity that was being finished this morning (Steve Good pattern I think).

There is a pattern somewhere that you can cut to determine if you would like to do wooden gear clocks. I will have a look and post here when I find it.

take care

Don W

 

 

[Rolf]

I have a HUGE plywood etc distributor about 30 minutes away.  I just bought 3 sheets of Thin FIN (manufactured in Finland 1.5mm (~1/16) ) for $44 a sheet 50 x 50 inches. I use this for all of my ornaments. The 3mm (1/8) cost me $15 for a 5ft x 5ft sheet.

When I build something that requires 1/4 or greater it is usually smaller quantities so I order those from Sloans.  

Don I Love the Nativity! I will have to make that for my Christmas inventory.

I have built three clocks all of them are in the book that you have posted.  Which edition do you have? There were some changes and adjustments after the first printing. 

Seeing a wooden clock run for the first time is very satisfying moment.! Enjoy and please post pictures of your progress.

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, don watson said:

@Ray, I have visited the 'Shed' today and tried to gather a few facts about the wooden gear clocks we want to make.

Firstly the book we are using is "Making Wooden Gear Clocks" by the editors of 'Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts' Magazine that we purchased from Amazon. The clock we are concentrating on is the 'Genesis Wooden Gear Clock'. We have cut a couple of the gears to see what it was like as a project and I think it will be quite good, I am at the moment trying to burn the numbers on the wheels we have cut, I hope to do that using the Laser Engraver.

I have attached a pic of the book, (I believe the pic on the front of the book is the Genesis), a pic of the 3 gears cut so far and ready to have the numbers burnt on and lastly a gratuitous pic of the nativity that was being finished this morning (Steve Good pattern I think).

There is a pattern somewhere that you can cut to determine if you would like to do wooden gear clocks. I will have a look and post here when I find it.

take care

Don W

 

 

Thanks Don. I have that same book in my "cart" but haven't ordered it yet. I will now so I can follow along. 

I like your nativity too. I saw that pattern and have it "saved".

 

[Scrappile]

I am anxious to follow your progress.  I have one all cut out and an attempt on assembly.  Something t'ant right with it, I got frustrated and it sits waiting for me to figure out what I did wrong.  It was fun to cut, love to cut gears for some reason.  Maybe this thread will inspire me to work at it some more. 

And wow, did this thread get off topic.  Maybe a new clock building thread needs to be started.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Scrappile

[don watson]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

I am anxious to follow your progress.  I have one all cut out and an attempt on assembly.  Something t'ant right with it, I got frustrated and it sits waiting for me to figure out what I did wrong.  It was fun to cut, love to cut gears for some reason.  Maybe this thread will inspire me to work at it some more. 

And wow, did this thread get off topic.  Maybe a new clock building thread needs to be started.

A new thread would be good but it could be better to join the forum at scrollsawer.com and ask any questions on that site, unless Travis would like to open a 'Clocks' forum here.

@Ray, I have looked for the design I downloaded and I have it as a .dwg and .dxf . I use/d Draftsight for my CAD drawings but they have just announced the end of the FREE programme as from the end of December 2019. I have downloaded and installed LibreCad (I use Linux OS and it  is FREE (Very important to this Scotsman)) and I am trying to get to grips with it. I think I got the simple little pattern from the clockmakers website and it was free ( along with 4 or 5 FREE clock plans and instructions on how to print them out in PDF). Have a look at www.woodenclocks.co.uk this is the site for Brian Law and I think it is great.

Edited August 29, 2019 by don watson
added a bit