baltic birch vs sanded birch plywood

[JimNC]

Many  my projects I use 1/8" or 1/4" material. I like baltic birch but baltic birch is not available in my area and many wood suppliers try to sell be "sanded" birch plywood. So what is the difference? Any suggestions on what to use other than a hardwood? 

Jim

Randleman, NC

Edited Tuesday at 11:54 AM by JimNC
miss spelling collection

[Bill WIlson]

Don't know exactly what they are trying to sell you, but I would look at things like the thickness of the surface veneer layer and what the interior layers  are made of.

If the surface layers are thicker than a sheet of paper and the core is actually an alternating layer of wood and not some man-made substrate, it might be worth a try.

[ScrollerGuy]

I've purchased Baltic birch both online and in store from Woodcraft and the quality was good. In the store I was told that Woodcraft is discontinuing carrying it because of its Russian origin. The 12 x 12 pieces have been on clearance for some time at good prices (1/8 inch $2 and 1/4 inch $3). They had it discounted even more until January 3rd, I believe. The larger pieces haven't been discounted. I was told they have "hundreds of thousands" of the smaller pieces to clear out.

If you add some to your cart and leave it there, they will send you a discount code for free shipping. 

[Dak0ta52]

My experience with "Birch" in box stores is the veneer is very thin and you will encounter voids. I do a lot of portrait scrolling and experienced delamination with the box store Birch. Unfortunately, you don't realize the piece has delaminated until after removing the pattern. Most of my pieces are 500+ cuts which means a lot of time has gone into a piece only to find it has become a piece of kindling after removing the pattern. For that reason I use "Baltic Birch" ordered from Ocooch Hardwoods. The wood isn't overly expensive. The shipping is the killer.

I will say I have had fairly decent experience with the box store 1/4-inch Oak plywood. I don't know if the veneer is thicker or sturdier but it has held up pretty good. Also, with the grain in the Oak ply, it can give you a "cloud" effect should the piece you're cutting needs such an illusion.

[edward]

I been buying Baltic Birch from Amazon woodpeckers and been very happy with it, I use mainly 1/8" and 1/4".  

[kmmcrafts]

I don't know what type of projects you all are making with plywood but there is quite a lot of plywood out there in various species other than BBply.. and from what I've used of some of them has been good stuff..

One source is Home Depot.. look up on their site for 5/32 Purebond project panels.. it is real close to the same thickness as the 3mm BBply in the 5x5 sheets that I've used for years.  They also have it in 1/4" and it's free shipping.. Great stuff for doing portrait type work.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Columbia-Forest-Products-5-32-in-x-1-ft-x-1-ft-7-in-PureBond-Maple-Plywood-Project-Panel-10-Pack-4940/312284408

For me a lot of the species are always sold out.. especially in the 5/32 size.. The 1/4 is usually stocked better. 

Another option is doing a search for 1/8" laser plywood.. I don't know where this laser plywood comes from or brand etc.. I'd like to find a good local source for buying 4 x 8 sheets or at least bigger sheets than they have and then I could get out of shipping cost etc. Anyway there is some really good plywood for laser cutters.. I'm assuming someone is buying it in full sheets and marketing it to laser cutters.. Maybe cabinet grade stuff because a lot of it is good two sides too.. I haven't been able to find good stuff locally like these laser marketed stuff is and as I said.. not sure where / who makes it.. It is different than regular plywoods because the laser cannot cut through some types of glues very well. Most of this laser plywood is in the 12 x 19 size due to most hobby laser machines are that size so it's marketed to those smaller hobby laser machines. A lot of these laser people do not even own any type of saw to cut down their wood and many work the lasers right in their spare room in the house. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I am using sande plywood for some jigs I am making for tablesaw. Have to tell you this is nowhere near the same stuff I used to buy from Home Depot back in the early 90's when I built all my shop cabinets from it. Not even close. sande wood is from the Mahagony family but just like all species there are good quality and then bad quality. You have to look at the layers that are within the thickness of the piece. Just because the face is nice looking and solid if you are cutting and scrolling you want real wood layers of equal qualiity and that is why many times BB is expensive. Now again the quality varies from vendors to vendors. I looked at the maple boards and even the oak boards in Home Depot and again I would not pay those prices for that garbage. Now I was looking at 3/4" and 1/2"  material. No not for me. The sande fits my bill and cheaper for what I am doing but would not use it to build cabinets. I do not know of the wood Kevin mentioned because not in the stores by me and if I can not see something I hesitate. I know what BB looks like but again you rely on vendors. I have had great luck from vendors on Amazon years ago but it has been a couple years since I bought any. I buy it for jigs and not to scroll. 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I am using sande plywood for some jigs I am making for tablesaw. Have to tell you this is nowhere near the same stuff I used to buy from Home Depot back in the early 90's when I built all my shop cabinets from it. Not even close. sande wood is from the Mahagony family but just like all species there are good quality and then bad quality. You have to look at the layers that are within the thickness of the piece. Just because the face is nice looking and solid if you are cutting and scrolling you want real wood layers of equal qualiity and that is why many times BB is expensive. Now again the quality varies from vendors to vendors. I looked at the maple boards and even the oak boards in Home Depot and again I would not pay those prices for that garbage. Now I was looking at 3/4" and 1/2"  material. No not for me. The sande fits my bill and cheaper for what I am doing but would not use it to build cabinets. I do not know of the wood Kevin mentioned because not in the stores by me and if I can not see something I hesitate. I know what BB looks like but again you rely on vendors. I have had great luck from vendors on Amazon years ago but it has been a couple years since I bought any. I buy it for jigs and not to scroll. 

The purebond plywood is one that Carter Johnson? (Hope that is the right person.. guy that used to do all those Christmas card puzzles etc...) turned me on to.. I wanted to try my hand at puzzle making.. he had always used 1/4" BBply but he run across the purbond brand stuff and gave it a try then reported back that it was pretty good stuff... Don't know a lot about it now days but I have bought some to do some special projects with a couple years ago.. still have a box of Maple and Walnut. Not sure if I could get a great picture of the edges or not but I can try tomorrow if anyone is interested. 

I had forgotten about the stuff for several years until just a few years back @FrankEV posted about that was what he was using.. so that's when I bought those boxes.. No I don't think it's the same quality of BB ply.. but it is good stuff for portrait type projects.. I made a few ornaments from it too.. and not that anyone cares but it cuts nicer on the laser as it's not quite as dense so can be cut at lower power or faster speeds.. IF it were slightly cheaper I'd probably only use it in my laser projects and many of the scrolled ones too.. just a bit more money than the BBply. and the stuff I got is not good on both sides.. like the walnut isn't even walnut on the back side I don't think.. so it's not great for ornaments that are single layered.. great for backers etc.. but again.. pricey for just a backer when other options are cheaper.   

Edited yesterday at 05:06 AM by kmmcrafts

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

5 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

The purebond plywood is one that Carter Johnson? (Hope that is the right person.. guy that used to do all those Christmas card puzzles etc...) turned me on to.. I wanted to try my hand at puzzle making.. he had always used 1/4" BBply but he run across the purbond brand stuff and gave it a try then reported back that it was pretty good stuff... Don't know a lot about it now days but I have bought some to do some special projects with a couple years ago.. still have a box of Maple and Walnut. Not sure if I could get a great picture of the edges or not but I can try tomorrow if anyone is interested. 

I had forgotten about the stuff for several years until just a few years back Frank posted about that was what he uses.. so that's when I bought those boxes.. No I don't think it's the same quality of BB ply.. but it is good stuff for portrait type projects.. I made a few ornaments from it too.. and not that anyone cares but it cuts nicer on the laser as it's not quite as dense so can be cut at lower power or faster speeds.. IF it were slightly cheaper I'd probably only use it in my laser projects and many of the scrolled ones too.. just a bit more money than the BBply. and the stuff I got is not good on both sides.. like the walnut isn't even walnut on the back side.. so it's not great for ornaments that are single layered.. great for backers etc.. but again.. pricey for just a backer when other options are cheaper.   

Kevin I seen it in the link you provided and have to say it looks like a press board or something as the inner layer and only one layer with 2 very thin layers on top and bottom. It does show a laser being used on it. Maybe that material is better for a laser other than layers of actual wood with glue like you say. It is not plywood between them for sure. I do not remember Carter using it. I have no idea where the puzzle stamp he sent me is to check. It is not cheap from the price I see in the link you provided. I know it is not in any Home Depot store around me. Maybe an order only thing. Just checked and yes an order only thing but I see they have a good variety of species. I may have to look into this for boxes that I will be making. I plan on veneering the tops and using BB as my substrate. I think I may get some to play with. Too bad it does not come larger pieces. looks like hobby woods.

I read the questions and answers and they tell you just about all you want to know. The outside panels are 1-42" thick the inner core is poplar or birch depending where it is shipped from. both sides are not the same in some panels. One can be walnut and back could be maple or some thing cheaper. That leaves me out as an option for boxes. Looks like the vendor can cut panels to sizes with a charge. They have a web site. People like it for laser work because it is a biodegradable adhesive and not toxic when burned. I guess the center core is solid wood and thus this makes it subject to warp thus the small pieces. You can read all about it and see all the facts on it within that link. Pictures of middle layers all look the same so they use the same inner core for all woods. That can show up if used as scrolling in walnut. For that money I guess it is an option. But  not for me. Plywoods and woods in general are just not the same as years ago. The harvesting is rushed and come from so many different countries you have no idea. As I said the Sande panels I bought have knots and terrible grain. I looked through almost a whole stack to pick a good sheet. years ago Home Depot carried beautiful Sande wood. Even the oak boards and maple boards sucked. $80 a sheet of 3/4" maple is not cheap. The Sande was $60. But it is more stable and flat compared to construction plywood and makes for better jig building. I do not care about grain patterns. 

[BadBob]

11 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

One source is Home Depot.. look up on their site for 5/32 Purebond project panels.. it is real close to the same thickness as the 3mm BBply in the 5x5 sheets that I've used for years.  They also have it in 1/4" and it's free shipping.. Great stuff for doing portrait type work.. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Columbia-Forest-Products-5-32-in-x-1-ft-x-1-ft-7-in-PureBond-Maple-Plywood-Project-Panel-10-Pack-4940/312284408

I bought a box of the Purebond plywood and have been happy with it. I don't make portraits.