Baltic Birch Plywood
Moderator: Bill Edmundson
Baltic Birch Plywood
Needed another sheet of 1/2 ply to put in behind driver and passenger on sides of pilothouse.Found a 5x5 piece of Russian birch ply 1/2 inch -9 ply. was a little spendy;looked nice tho.Any thoughts from all ya'll?
Working on regular-sized Bo-Jest
"If it's not crooked,It's not mine
"If it's not crooked,It's not mine
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galamb
- Posts: 838
- Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:37 am
- Location: Inverary, Ontario - Cuddy Sport (modified)
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Re: Baltic Birch Plywood
Baltic Birch (and it's various names - Russian, Finnish etc) can be an exceptionally good panel choice for boat building.
Where you have to be careful is when trying to determine which type of glue was used for bonding the plies.
Since you didn't place it in the hull etc you could get away with either without worry, but if you were using it as an exterior, structural panel you would want the panels made with Phenolic resin glue (meets water proof/boil proof standards). The other glue typically used is melamine and while it is "water resistant", it is not of the same quality over the longer term.
I have personally found the grade standards for the Baltic Birch that we see over here to be "somewhat superior" to the North American standards which have been scaled back/down graded over the years.
The Baltic Birch is graded on the VOST standard (a Russian system) as opposed the APA (American system). These standards give a letter rating based on a number of (variables) including the quality of the face ply, gaps in the inner plies (or lack thereof), how well the plies are pieced together, patched etc.
Other Marine panels, notably the various "marine mahoganies" (Meranti, Gaboon, Okoume etc) are often rated under the old British Standards, BS1088 being the superior panel, or BS 6566 (good enough).
For marine structural panels you generally want a rating of A-B Marine or BS 1088 or BS 6566. To get a similar quality from a VOST rated panel you need only find a BB/BB patched (very small foot ball like patches on one face only) to get the same structural characteristics. The BB grades are what I have predominantly seen (at least in Canada).
They tend to have "more plies" for a given thickness than either APA or BS rated panels - that (at least in theory) produces a stronger panel. The face wood also "looks good" and takes paint or stain very well - maybe not as pretty as some of the mahoganies, but particularly for a painted surface, it's great to work with.
Where you have to be careful is when trying to determine which type of glue was used for bonding the plies.
Since you didn't place it in the hull etc you could get away with either without worry, but if you were using it as an exterior, structural panel you would want the panels made with Phenolic resin glue (meets water proof/boil proof standards). The other glue typically used is melamine and while it is "water resistant", it is not of the same quality over the longer term.
I have personally found the grade standards for the Baltic Birch that we see over here to be "somewhat superior" to the North American standards which have been scaled back/down graded over the years.
The Baltic Birch is graded on the VOST standard (a Russian system) as opposed the APA (American system). These standards give a letter rating based on a number of (variables) including the quality of the face ply, gaps in the inner plies (or lack thereof), how well the plies are pieced together, patched etc.
Other Marine panels, notably the various "marine mahoganies" (Meranti, Gaboon, Okoume etc) are often rated under the old British Standards, BS1088 being the superior panel, or BS 6566 (good enough).
For marine structural panels you generally want a rating of A-B Marine or BS 1088 or BS 6566. To get a similar quality from a VOST rated panel you need only find a BB/BB patched (very small foot ball like patches on one face only) to get the same structural characteristics. The BB grades are what I have predominantly seen (at least in Canada).
They tend to have "more plies" for a given thickness than either APA or BS rated panels - that (at least in theory) produces a stronger panel. The face wood also "looks good" and takes paint or stain very well - maybe not as pretty as some of the mahoganies, but particularly for a painted surface, it's great to work with.
Graham
Yes, Plywood is "real" wood
A "professional" is someone who gets paid for their work - it doesn't necessarily mean they are good at it
Yes, Plywood is "real" wood
A "professional" is someone who gets paid for their work - it doesn't necessarily mean they are good at it
Re: Baltic Birch Plywood
Considering what I built the project with,it was probably overkill to purchase the panel so I could cut out porthole window out of center of it and install in window spot.now just gotta decide what looks better-round or oval window Working on regular-sized Bo-Jest
"If it's not crooked,It's not mine
"If it's not crooked,It's not mine