BBP

[savethebeer]

in Ireland its known as Russian Birch Ply. I went to my supplier today to spend a gift voucher I got for Christmas. I got two sheets of 4mm plywood just to use the voucher cause I knew that stocks are running low.

This time 6 months ago most of the Birch forests on the Steppes were ablaze which meant a worldwide shortage anyway, but now with Ukraine being invaded we will not be using BBP for much longer. He did say he knows of a supplier in Poland who is experimenting with various types of wood laminates to try and come up with thin wood that will have a decent finish similar to what we have in BBP. However he cant see any solution in the short term and it'll be many months before we have a reliable supply coming into the shops.    

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah, I've been reading about shortages.. I myself have been experimenting with other types of ply etc. and I really like the project panels from Home Depot ( See my posting from last week about the HD Project panels ). Not really any cheaper than the price of BBply at the moment but when BBply supply runs out it's not going to be available most likely for a long time. 

I have enough BBP to get me by for probably 1-2 years.. maybe longer if business slows down, which I'm kinda expecting to happen.. since everything price so high all of a sudden.. I think people will have less money to shop with for a few years at least.  

[wombatie]

I use Bamboo.  It is very splintery but sands well to a nice smooth finish.  It may be something for you to look into.

Marg