# Thin Plywood Source



## Gill (3 Nov 2009)

Hubby found a sawmill out at Belbroughton near Stourbridge last week and ordered us some fence panels for about half the price of our local retailer. When he told me about this, I trotted over there and had a chat with the mill owner. Although most of his products are pine, his daughter makes theatrical sets. Since these sets have to be moved on stage, they must be as light as possible. For this reason, she uses thin plywood boards. Now, it _isn't_ Baltic Birch Ply, but I thought £11 for a full size 4mm board was worth a punt so I ordered two. After all, B&Q, Focus _et al_ would have charged an awful lot more and the quality would be guaranteed to be iffy. They were delivered (free of charge) yesterday along with the fence panels, and look to be pretty decent quality.

I mention this for two reasons. Firstly, anyone who lives near Belbroughton might want to check out the source for themselves. Secondly, if you are on good terms with a nearby theatre, you might be able to negotiate some of their plywood.


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## StevieB (3 Nov 2009)

Nice! How many layers in the 4mm stuff? The birch ply I have at 4mm seems to be only three layers anyway - two birch faces and a thicker core. The 6mm stuff I have has more layers as you would traditionally expect from birch ply. No knots in the 4mm and no dutchmen either, although the 6mm has an occasional one which I tend to discard unless its subsequently painted or hidden in some way.

Steve.


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## Gill (3 Nov 2009)

Only three layers, Steve. The core layer seems to be pretty thin. At £11 per board I wouldn't be unhappy to find dutchmen in the sheet. After all, they're easy enough to cut around and they tend not to be critical when dimensioning timber for scroll saw projects. I'm just hoping there aren't a lot of voids.

I hope to cut them later - right now I can hardly get into my workshop for two plywood boards that are taking up all the space :lol: .


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## stevebuk (3 Nov 2009)

i bought some thin ply from a local builders merchant and it was 3 ply too, but on the inside it was this soft foamy like stuff and it breaks away easily so i will not be buying that again.


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## Zanda (4 Nov 2009)

StevieB":2ra67hk9 said:


> Nice! How many layers in the 4mm stuff? The birch ply I have at 4mm seems to be only three layers anyway - two birch faces and a thicker core. The 6mm stuff I have has more layers as you would traditionally expect from birch ply. No knots in the 4mm and no dutchmen either, although the 6mm has an occasional one which I tend to discard unless its subsequently painted or hidden in some way.
> 
> Steve.



Silly question time, knots in wood I understand, BUT _*dutchmen*_ I aint got a clue, please define dutchmen (beginner so lost with jargon) thanks


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## big soft moose (4 Nov 2009)

Zanda":mlg9jth0 said:


> please define dutchmen (beginner so lost with jargon) thanks



people who live in holland  

that aside its patches on the layers of plywood , ie that rather than being made up of one continuous sheet it is patched with small bits where defects have been found - for a lot of ply applications it doesnt matter but its not good in scroll work as can lead to bits breaking away.

no idea *why* these are called dutchmen tho


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## Zanda (4 Nov 2009)

big soft moose":ce21hs50 said:


> Zanda":ce21hs50 said:
> 
> 
> > please define dutchmen (beginner so lost with jargon) thanks
> ...



Cheers BSM


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## Tenko (19 Nov 2009)

Because you have to plug the hole up with your finger (and a bit of filler) :?


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## Blacklabradorman (3 Dec 2009)

Hi Gill,

When you say full size board what size is that? Coomers do a 1220mm square board in 4mm for about £8 + vat. Just wondering how that compares?

Of course it is local for me so that makes a big difference

regards
Sean


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