Finish Birch Ply

[Argus]

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I’m considering using 24 mm. Finnish birch ply for a series of full sized library shelves.
I don’t use sheet material often and my normal supplier of sheet material (Arnold Laver) has told me that the supplies have just about dried up?

It’s normally freely available, so has anyone heard of this problem?

Some suppliers are offering Latvian ply. Apart from the obvious differing source, are there any significant differences with this stuff as an alternative to the Finnish Birch ply I've used occasionally

Any advice is gratefully received.


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[darkling27]

I heard that supplies are dwindling and prices are goin up. But i havnt heard anything about it running dry.
I hope not since i need some!.... lol :?

 

[woodman47]

I use a couple of packs of 12mm Russian Birch a year (about 80 sheets). Its about 2/3rds the price of Finnish and is easier to get. Quality is fine, particularly if your not carving the surface (www.seens.co.uk).
I'm tempted to try sourcing Baltic stuff next time I order as I do get the occasional poor surface. Not a problem if you're picking individual sheets. BTW, I never found B/B available easily (or at all). So B/BB 12mm glued up to your 24mm might be the way to go

Phil

 

[Pekka Huhta]

Finnish birch ply has been made from Russian birch for quite a while. The problem is that Russia has put an export customs duty on birch (well, all exported raw wood actually) and the price of raw material has gone up. So finnish ply is not running dry, but as the price goes up, many distributors try to find a cheaper source.

As far as I can tell from the sheets I've used here, best alternative is probably ply from Estonia or Latvia. It seems that russian grading system allows a bit more errors or colour flaws.

Pekka

 

[woodbloke]

Interestingly, for those of us in the Salisbury area, the Timber Centre behind Wickes will now be stocking a good number of different sizes of birch ply, as well as marine ply and some hardwoods. I don't know if where it will be coming from, ie if its Russian or Finnish but it's good news for local woodworkers as there is absolutely nowhere around and about to get hold of decent ply...going to also start to stock some veneered mdf sheets as well. This is happening apparently after numerous enquiries from hobbiest woodworkers in the town (me included) for decent materials to work with...least I won't have to go to the sheds now to see what's on offer - Rob

 

[Argus]

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Thanks Pekka, that's an interesting reply.

As far as alternatives (Estonina or Latvian) goes, it's an open discussion for me, if it's the same stuff.
I've used Finnish ply in the past and the quality is excellent.

Is there a European Standard yet on the grades of this material? If so there should be little if any difference.

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[Pekka Huhta]

There isn't an international or even European standard for Birch plywood quality grades, as long as I know.

Finnish birch ply is made by standard SFS 2413 and it has several quality grades. Russian standard is GOST 3916.1. I don't have neither of them at hand, but I have been under impression that the grades for different defects or surface flaws are tightest on the Finnish standards.

The quality grades are basically given for both surfaces. In the finnish system the grades are following:


I (B) – flawless, can be used as varnished surface
II (S) – some surface defects accepted, colour flaws but no knots, patches or dark brown areas. Can be used painted or varnished
III (BB) – Patched knots allowed (patches will show through paint)
IV (WG) – defects allowed, can be used as back walls of cabinets etc.

And the grades are I, I/II (one side first grade, one second), II/II, II/III etc.

On the Russian system those are

B: flawless, can be used as varnished surface
BB: paintable surface
C: Flaws and knots patched
CP: Flaws and knots not patched

And the grades are B (I); B/BB (I/II); BB (II); BB/CP (II/III); CP (III); BB/C (II/IV); C (IV)

The grading sounds quite similar, but there are subtle differences for example what is considered a "flaw" . I would say russian "B", best grade is about just as good as Finnish, but for example BB allows more errors than Finnish equivalent S. Same goes with the other Baltic national grading systems which resemble the Russian one, but I am not that familiar with them.

There are also rules about internal integrity of the plywood, what comes to patches, voids, etc. inside the plywood. On the other hand all the gluing is done according to EN 314-2 standard no matter where you buy it.

I'm not an expert, so take it all with a grain of salt and a tad of national pride as well :wink: I had to go through these when I was studying wood technology at tech university fifteen years ago, so some of it might be outdated as well.

Pekka

 

[Argus]

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Excellent and precise, Pekka. Thank you.

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[davin]

Kiitos paljon Pekka, Ihan mielikiintoinen !