Baltic or Russian birch plywood
- Thread starter BB
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Tom
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I've used birch/maple ply, but have no idea of it's origins. It had a superb finish and was great to work with.
tswms
Well-known member
I use it for drawer sides and jigs. It is a beautiful products, but too expenxive for routine use. It is great however in areas where the end grain will show.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
gary great link thanks. I did stop by here yesterday and the place is amazing; http://www.highlandhardwoods.com/ and I also found this site, http://www.cwghardwoodoutlet.com/.
Between these two and Garys site you will learn more than you need to about wood in general and Russian/Baltic birch plywood in particular.
There is an update to the site that Gary provided the link to, the availability of full sheets of Baltic birch is getting more common with the Connecticut source having it readily available, as it has the 5 x 5 sheets.
As for pricing: the Cheapo Depot sells an A oak veneer plywood, half sheet, for about $14.00 less than a 5x5 sheet of Baltic birch BUT and its a big BUT to me, there is no mill stamp on the Home Depot product which I am confident in saying means the product is from China. With the buzz about moldy Chinese drywall I for one would never take the chance on any building product from the commies. The yard in NH showed me the documentation that the Russian product is in compliance with Euro standards for this type of building material, glue type and emissions from the panel after manufacturing and after seeing panel being cut in half I can say that this certification is important as Baltic birch is a bit on the dusty side. According to the people at the yard its a characteristic of the wood not the glue, I believe them.
The Russian plywood is, in a word, magnificent with about twice the number of plys compared to other panels. It is as flat as I have read about, no chamber at all and most incredibly there was not a single void, or part of a void, that I saw on the factory edge of the panel that was cut OR along the rip they made in that panel-and for those familiar with plywood will agree that this is impressive.
Both of the sites I posted include pricing so you will get some idea of just what the premium is for Baltic birch I am of the opinion that, at least in our area, the price difference is a non issue for what you are getting.
I got a 5x5 sheet of the 3/4 equivalent so I can verify the claim that the stuff machines perfectly.
So far I am a believer.
Between these two and Garys site you will learn more than you need to about wood in general and Russian/Baltic birch plywood in particular.
There is an update to the site that Gary provided the link to, the availability of full sheets of Baltic birch is getting more common with the Connecticut source having it readily available, as it has the 5 x 5 sheets.
As for pricing: the Cheapo Depot sells an A oak veneer plywood, half sheet, for about $14.00 less than a 5x5 sheet of Baltic birch BUT and its a big BUT to me, there is no mill stamp on the Home Depot product which I am confident in saying means the product is from China. With the buzz about moldy Chinese drywall I for one would never take the chance on any building product from the commies. The yard in NH showed me the documentation that the Russian product is in compliance with Euro standards for this type of building material, glue type and emissions from the panel after manufacturing and after seeing panel being cut in half I can say that this certification is important as Baltic birch is a bit on the dusty side. According to the people at the yard its a characteristic of the wood not the glue, I believe them.
The Russian plywood is, in a word, magnificent with about twice the number of plys compared to other panels. It is as flat as I have read about, no chamber at all and most incredibly there was not a single void, or part of a void, that I saw on the factory edge of the panel that was cut OR along the rip they made in that panel-and for those familiar with plywood will agree that this is impressive.
Both of the sites I posted include pricing so you will get some idea of just what the premium is for Baltic birch I am of the opinion that, at least in our area, the price difference is a non issue for what you are getting.
I got a 5x5 sheet of the 3/4 equivalent so I can verify the claim that the stuff machines perfectly.
So far I am a believer.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
You can get US spec plywood without voids too. Ask for marine plywood or, alternatively, lumber-core plywood (center is a solid piece of wood rather than plys). Cabinet ("A") grade oak and birch plywood usually has no voids either, but it's not guaranteed.
Gary, you make good points; Russian/Baltic/Artic birch is NOT guaranteed to have no voids and the only way to get this assurance is to go with marine plywood, but this is fairly big bucks.
Your comment on wood core plywood is timely as I did ask the yard in NH about the availability and here is what I was told, that it is, for all intent and purpose discontinued but that with a 100 sheet minimum it -may- be possible to get a custom run, imagine what the cost would be?, and while I am not certain, I do believe that the wood core was noted for some warping, but again it has been many many years since I have even seen the stuff.
Here is my report on Baltic birch: the 3/4 equivalent has 13 plies and I also ripped my 5x5 sheet; beware the dust BUT I am leaning towards what I was told that the dust is the wood, not the glue as the smell was a woody aroma not a chemical/formaldehyde smell, of course we all wear dust masks now anyway, right?
Not a single void to be seen and it machines very well, yes you have some sense that your router is shaping plywood rather than wood, but it is a gut reaction rather than one from the machine-not a single chip nor a single instance of 'spirited' router behavior.
For a little bit more cash you get about twice the plies, probably no voids and the flattest stuff you will see this side of mdf-I would be shocked if anyone is not happy with the product.
PLUS you will be hard pressed to see the difference between the Russian 'B' grade and ANY domestic -A- grade, seriously-apparently they have far higher standards in Europe than we have here with regard to face grades.
Double plus, you can leave the edge banding in the drawer, the finish on the edges of the Russian product is begging simply to be lightly stained then gloss sealed, very very attractive.
Your comment on wood core plywood is timely as I did ask the yard in NH about the availability and here is what I was told, that it is, for all intent and purpose discontinued but that with a 100 sheet minimum it -may- be possible to get a custom run, imagine what the cost would be?, and while I am not certain, I do believe that the wood core was noted for some warping, but again it has been many many years since I have even seen the stuff.
Here is my report on Baltic birch: the 3/4 equivalent has 13 plies and I also ripped my 5x5 sheet; beware the dust BUT I am leaning towards what I was told that the dust is the wood, not the glue as the smell was a woody aroma not a chemical/formaldehyde smell, of course we all wear dust masks now anyway, right?
Not a single void to be seen and it machines very well, yes you have some sense that your router is shaping plywood rather than wood, but it is a gut reaction rather than one from the machine-not a single chip nor a single instance of 'spirited' router behavior.
For a little bit more cash you get about twice the plies, probably no voids and the flattest stuff you will see this side of mdf-I would be shocked if anyone is not happy with the product.
PLUS you will be hard pressed to see the difference between the Russian 'B' grade and ANY domestic -A- grade, seriously-apparently they have far higher standards in Europe than we have here with regard to face grades.
Double plus, you can leave the edge banding in the drawer, the finish on the edges of the Russian product is begging simply to be lightly stained then gloss sealed, very very attractive.
Water Dog
Well-known member
We used to use Russian Birch Plywood in a shop setting for drawer sides and anything else that required a nice edge. We switched to apple ply after a few years due to price. The apple ply had much the same features as the Birch but cost a little less. We are on the west coast and I'm not sure of its availabilty across the country.
