STREtek poplar faced ply

[robgul]

It does seem that way from the comments here this morning and the searching I've been doing . . . . looking back the 18mm B/BB board I bought for the table (including cutting, I collected it) in July 2020 was £101 + VAT - today's price, with cutting and collection, is £211 + VAT.

There is a semi-local timber merchant that is listing 18mm BB/BB Birch ply at £119 + VAT + cutting . . . I'll probably go and have a look at that, as I can look through the stock to find a sheet that will be OK for the table?

Update : The local-ish supplier (went there on my bike!) - the sheets had more plugs than you can imagine, on both faces.

A bit more research on Stretek and I've ruled it out as being too soft for a table top - the original Birch supplier looks likely to get the order and I'll just have to close my eyes when I pay!!!! AND with some lateral thinking from my wife the original table is going to be repurposed as a bench for use with the table so not wasting the original investment.

 

[robgul]

Update : The local-ish supplier (went there on my bike!) - the sheets had more plugs than you can imagine, on both faces.

A bit more research on Stretek and I've ruled it out as being too soft for a table top - the original Birch supplier looks likely to get the order and I'll just have to close my eyes when I pay!!!! AND with some lateral thinking from my wife the original table is going to be repurposed as a bench for use with the table so not wasting the original investment.

Further update: Previous supplier can't supply the quality board I need and doesn't know when they might be able to

. . . back to the drawing board searching for a supplier.

 

[AmericanCraftsmanship]

I've recently broken down a batch (10 sheets of 12mm and 20 of the 18mm) of the Stretek poplar ply. Think it was 82 pounds from Falcon Timber for the 18mm sheets. I'm from the states where B/BB birch is 120 dollars a sheet so I was enticed by the price point. This will be my go to for all future ply projects. I'm using it for cabinets, but will also be doing the reveals for windows and skylights with it. I think its better than birch for cabinet projects. Being poplar it takes paint perfectly with a couple coats of sanding sealer for the base. Haven't come across any voids in the lamination that you normally find with Chinese ply so the edges should be sound for your project. As you said I would worry about the table top durability depending on final finish. They do carry a oak veneered and beech option. Although harder than poplar the veneers are still thin so for long term durability again it comes down to finish. I don't think birch will help you either. I once did half a dozen parson tables and the client wanted plywood edges. 3 were black (against my recommendation) on top and 3 were stain grade. We glued and pinned a 75mm wide boarder to give appearance of inch and a half thickness like you want to achieve. My friend refinishes restaurant tables so I took his recommendation and used a few quarts of self levelling epoxy. Regardless of the tops, he said theres no way any spray or wipe on finishes will seal the edges properly for long term use. Theres just too much movement. I Flooded the table tops and sand back the drips on the underside once cured. Have a propane torch or hair dryer handy for the bubbles. I used self levelling so it of course came out very glossy. They wanted a matte finish so I sanded with 320 and then did a couple coats of matte spar varnish can spray or brush. Sure enough I got called back after about a month as every little surface scratch will show on a matte black. Replaced those with a dark stain top and same epoxy spar varnish combo finish. They've been in service for about 3 years now in a commercial office building lunch room.

 

[Britman]

Further update: Previous supplier can't supply the quality board I need and doesn't know when they might be able to

. . . back to the drawing board searching for a supplier.

Have you considered adding your own veneer?

 

[robgul]

Have you considered adding your own veneer?

Belated update: The previous supplier was able to supply 18mm Stretek Poplar cut to the sizes I wanted. It's WIP here in the workshop. The table legs are 72mm square, made from 4 off 72mm wide x 71cm long strips of the ply laminated together (loads of glue and clamps) the plywood exposed edges sanded and then a stop chamfer on all sides to about 125m from the top of the leg. Top is a single sheet 160 x 90cm with 4 rails 10cm wide laminated all round (ditto glue) to give the effect of a 36mm thick top with exposed ply edge. Finish is several coats of Osmo Top Oil Natural. At the moment I'm waiting on delivery of some clever fixing plates to fit the legs. I'll post some pics when it's finished.