Baltic Birch

[Matt B]

I don’t want this to turn into a political post.

I purchased a few sheets of Baltic Birch last week. This is from a lumber supplier in Dallas Tx. While there, I asked where Baltic Birch came from. I should have known that it came from Russia. They told me that when out of their present stock that they will not buy more from Russia but that they will get Vietnam birch instead. 

They said the quality of Vietnam birch is similar but that it does have some voids.  Their business is cabinet makers where voids do not matter but it will for us  

I am sure that in the near future we will find our hobby wood in short supply   

 

[redwine]

Your supplier is right, Baltic Birch does come from a region of Russia known as Baltic. 2 or 3 years ago the workers and the machinery was having a tough time getting into the forest to harvest the trees due to very wet and snowy weather and I believe that was true last year! I don't use ply very often but I did order enough last year to last for a good while!

Erv

[kmmcrafts]

While I know voids are a thing.. and everyone suggest BBply because there are no voids or very few.. I've scrolled a lot of plain old 1/4" good 1 and 2 sides of plywood over the last 20 years.. I have yet ran into any issues with the voids.. Not saying they aren't there.. and I can feel and see a big difference in quality of BB ply and strength too.. 

 

You bring up a good topic though and it is something to think about..  and has been mentioned.. they have struggled with the supply of it in the past few years and prices have skyrocketed.. Might be a time to stock up if you absolutely have to have this stuff.. I can see it getting pretty pricey. 

[Frank Pellow]

I understand that a small amount of Baltic Birch comes from Finland.  There are, of course, many countries other that Russia and Finland on the Baltic, but I have not heard that any of the others manufacture this type of plywood.  

Canada certainly has vast regions of same type of Boreal Forrest where the Birch is obtained, but I have not found (and I have looked) any Canadian manufacturer of Birch Plywood.

It's not just the lack of voids that appeals to me, the characteristics and quality of the Birch wood make it good for scrolling.

[Jpaskell]

i have used some "Burch" plywood, not Baltic birch, from Washington state. Seems to be alright as I have made cabinets with it and no voids.

Just FYI,

JIM

[timelett]

So no other ply will be as good?  I have not done very much scroll sawing, just curious. 

[WayneMahler]

24 minutes ago, timelett said:

So no other ply will be as good?  I have not done very much scroll sawing, just curious. 

Baltic Birch has been the choice of many scrollers because of the quality and lack of voids. It is actually done in metric scale for thickness so 1/4" would actually be 6mm 1/8 3mm and so forth. Russia is the larger exporter of this but with the sanctions going into place it may become very scarce and pricey. Other ply's have been used but it really bites when you are finishing a project and that void shows up or it delaminates as you are cutting it.

[flarud]

I was at Rockler last week and bought a few pieces.  The prices were actually down a couple of dollars from the week before.  I have several pieces each of 1/8", 1/4", and 1/2".  I should be good for several months.  

[spirithorse]

The Winfield Collection magazine always advertises FINNISH ply and LUAN. The ad for Finnish ply says, "Not to be confused with lower grade Baltic Birch".
It appears the largest panels are 24" x 24" at $13.99 for small orders and a small discount for larger orders.
I've never used this product but, thought it worth mentioning for scrollers looking for options.

I have also seen 1/8" and 1/4" plywood at Hobby Lobby but, did not investigate it any further because I could get the larger sheets of
Baltic Birch at a reasonable price and was not considering getting small sized cut-offs and giving more money in the long run.

Winfield also sells 1/8", 1/4", and 1/2" Hardwood boards. I have not used those either; just passing along options.

When I first began scrolling and knew very little about the thin plywoods, I tried Luan and was very quickly dismayed with the quality of that.

God Bless! Spirithorse

[John B]

I have never used Baltic Birch as it is not available where I live and probably not available in Australia. I use Hoop Pine, Locally produced and AA grade, no viods with a nice thick facer veneers which makes sanding easy and low risk.
I would agree with @spirithorse100% Luan is absolutely crap, only reasonable use is cabinet backs. Perhaps the thicker sizes for work bench tops.

[Jim Blume]

10 hours ago, John B said:

I have never used Baltic Birch as it is not available where I live and probably not available in Australia. I use Hoop Pine, Locally produced and AA grade, no viods with a nice thick facer veneers which makes sanding easy and low risk.
I would agree with @spirithorse100% Luan is absolutely crap, only reasonable use is cabinet backs. Perhaps the thicker sizes for work bench tops.

I use Luan for backers when I can get it cheap. And yes, you are correct as to it's suitability for scrolling. It can splinter easily and unless you are lucky, most times a project made out of Luan will end up in the bin.

[Jim Blume]

When I have run out of BB, I have bought sheets of 1/8 and 1/4" from Menards, and have been fortunate to not run into voids that ruined a project. But, when you look at the thickness of the layers of ply, notice that in Baltic Birch, the layers are thicker and not just an "onion skin like" veneer. With BB, there will be less chances of chipping the veneer as you cut. Also, in using the thin veneer plywood, you might consider NOT using blades which have any reverse teeth. For example, my go to blades for almost everything is the Ultra Reverse where every third tooth is reverse. While that style of blade almost reduces all need for sanding, when cutting really thin veneers it may lift the veneer. Additionally in most plywoods, you will have no idea of what the inner layers are made of. With BB, all layers are baltic birch.

[kmmcrafts]

I just called my local source for 1/8" 5 x 5 sheets.. quantity discounts of more than 10 sheets is priced at $39.89 per sheet.. last time I purchased it was $13.. He said once it's gone it's gone because as has been mentioned.. we aren't importing anything from Russia.. OH forgot to mention.. this is the price of only one good side and football patches on the other side.. 

[NC Scroller]

While I don't have a laser, I do know a few people who do, and their choice of wood is often Baltic Birch.  I know several professional custom cabinet makers and BB is there wood of choice for cabinet casings. BB is also used by many woodworkers for shop jigs because of the lack of voids and the extra stability that the multiple layers provide.  Bottom line it will be affecting lots of people. 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah the ply is consistent for laser work as opposed to solid lumber etc.. I have orders for this year Christmas ornaments for laser work.. I have enough on hand for said orders but.. torn if I want to go grab 10 sheets or so for other possible laser ornament works.. I can scroll ornaments from any hardwood or most any plywood.. laser not so much.. Good thing about laser is.. I can switch up what I use it for.. acrylic, slate stone coasters, cork and many other things that might help take the load off of buying BB ply.  

[John B]

3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I just called my local source for 1/8" 5 x 5 sheets.. quantity discounts of more than 10 sheets is priced at $39.89 per sheet.. last time I purchased it was $13.. He said once it's gone it's gone because as has been mentioned.. we aren't importing anything from Russia.. OH forgot to mention.. this is the price of only one good side and football patches on the other side.. 

I had a look online and it seems there are a couple of suppliers of "Baltic" Birch in the Eastern States however their price is $41.00 per sq metre, and that's before it is shipped a few thousand K's. When I 1st started scrolling it was not available at all here, seems like things are going full circle 

[OCtoolguy]

Regarding the mention of luan plywood, when I first started scrolling, I had some luan scraps from a RV remodel that I had done and was using them for practice. I had the worst allergic reaction of my life from that wood. It was also before I got smart and bought a good respirator mask. Anyway, just a word of warning to anybody who may be sensitive to that type of fine dust. For me luan is the worst. I'll not use it at all.