Everytime I drop my kids off at the daycare I see they have numerous toys and shelves that are made out of what looks like a 12 ply plywood with a surface that is very polished. The wood looks very high quality and I'm curious what is is. Anyone know what that is?
snipped-for-privacy@usa.xerox.com (Ron) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
A good plywood supplier in your area can show you options. Appleply, a brand name they will know, can be purchased prefinished, in various veneers, widths and lengths. Some other suppliers are doing the same thing. Prefinished saves a LOT of time and space and tools for all concerned.
The high ply count ply is generically know as cabinet grade. Often Baltic Birch, although there are suppliers of similar products from around the globe. The best of the imports, in my limited experience, come from Finland.
But the local supplier to professional cabinet makers can point you in the right direction.
Here, at the Children's Museums, Activity Centers, etc - it's Baltic Birch or one of the variants. I used it for my kid's Brio-style train table. Definitely recommended.
Cabinet grade ply. One kind comes from Russia, with many more layers than you see at HD or Lowes. The good ply has much fewer voids which can be frustrating if building any kind of furniture.
I've built some stuff from 9-ply birch and 9-ply oak. I looked into
13-ply (I was looking to accentuate the end grain), but the local 84 lumber was the only one who even carried it, and I had to buy a whole bunk (54 sheets) to get any. At about $48 a sheet, I had to settle for the 9-ply.
At any rate, I get my 9-ply from my local Carter Lumber, at around fifty bucks a sheet for birch.
get to Olean(Oh-Lee-Anne) every so often, and have purchased both 1/2" Birch ply & 1/8" Birch ply(for scrollwork) from them. I don't see it on their website, but might be worth an email to find out about availability & shipping.
As many have said before, it is probably Baltic Birch, most of which comes from Northern Europe or the Russian areas. This is also called cabinet grade because a lot of folks use it for drawer boxes and inside of cabinets. The borg does handle similar plywood but you might have to go to a cabinet shop or hardwood dealer to get real Baltic. By the way, it comes in 60" square sheets and variants (60" x 30") etc,
I keep a couple of sheets around for shop projects. The sheets are very stable and are excellent for shop tooling (saw sleds, v-blocks, drill press jigs and tables, etc.). Being Birch, you will have to pre-treat prior to staining using a conditioner.
Some lower grades might have knots in the surface but they are usually nicely plugged. It is a good all around product.
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