A birch ply alternative found?

[benhen31]

Hi,

My local timber yard obviously can't supply baltic birch plywood at the moment. Asking them about alternatives that are pretty and consistent enough for furniture where the ply cross section is exposed they've offered the below. Anyone know anything about this? Visually, it looks good to me from the pictures. I'm going to order one of the poplar boards to test.

Thanks,
Ben.

 

[Fitzroy]

Looks good, never seen it myself. Do you have a price?

 

[niall Y]

Poplar plywood has really neat edges. There is inevitably, some tearing to a few of the laminates when using a router, but this is easily sanded out. The only other thing to bear in mind ,is that Poplar is a lot softer than Birch, and can pick up a few dings and dents along the way.

 

[benhen31]

Poplar plywood has really neat edges. There is inevitably, some tearing to a few of the laminates when using a router, but this is easily sanded out. The only other thing to bear in mind ,is that Poplar is a lot softer than Birch, and can pick up a few dings and dents along the way.

Interesting, would the beech alternative be harder wearing? I've heard that the eucalyptus core can be bad for allergies so was steering away from it just for that.

Looks good, never seen it myself. Do you have a price?

They're getting me a price. Probably going to be similar to baltic birch but with some actual availability.

 

[niall Y]

Interesting, would the beech alternative be harder wearing? I've heard that the eucalyptus core can be bad for allergies so was steering away from it just for that.

They're getting me a price. Probably going to be similar to baltic birch but with some actual availability.

Can't really comment on the Beech-faced Eucalyptus-ply, as I have had no experience using it, However, to put it in perspective, the Poplar-ply is going to be no softer than Poplar/Tulip wood. itself. And this is used ,quite extensively for painted furniture so,, the ply should be suitable in this context.

 

[benhen31]

Good point, perhaps I'll stick with the poplar one for this first try.

 

[eribaMotters]

I recently took delivery of some 18mm polar plywood. Timbmet could not supply birch in 18mm so this was the next best thing. I think it cost the same at £88 + vat a sheet as my previous birch. It's main use it for the internal panels of some fitted wardrobes, finished with two coats of acrylic floor varnish. This will contrast against the painted poplar framework.
The surface is as mentioned above softer than birch, whilst the laminates are also fewer and thicker. The edges do look nice and should look fine for the few shelves I will be making with the offcuts. The advantages are weight in that they are a lot more manageable for one person. I also found the sheets were longer than 2440, at 2500 I think.

Colin

 

[Sachakins]

Hi,

My local timber yard obviously can't supply baltic birch plywood at the moment. Asking them about alternatives that are pretty and consistent enough for furniture where the ply cross section is exposed they've offered the below. Anyone know anything about this? Visually, it looks good to me from the pictures. I'm going to order one of the poplar boards to test.

View attachment 150775

Thanks,
Ben.

Pack size 50 !!!!!

 

[Ollie78]

I would think it might be fine, I have used the Wisa stuff with a poplar core and birch faces before. It was pretty good.
Be interested to know what it's like.

Ollie

 

[benhen31]

Pack size 50 !!!!!

The timber yard buys the 50 pack, I'll only be buying the one panel!

 

[baldkev]

I had a load of eucalyptus structural ply ( obviously a different grade ) and it all warped like CRAZY! It also delaminated very easily if it gets slightly damp..... i wouldn't want it again.

 

[eribaMotters]

Update. I've been using the 18mm sheet of Poplar plywood I bought in before X-Mas. The surface is not as good as the Birch and does have some bruises. As mentioned above, the number of laminates is less but as they are thicker it is easier to sand out some fairly deep marks.
The lower weight per sheet is a blessing if working by yourself. I'd used my cordless to cut a sheet down the length into 2 pieces of 8x2 ft. When I came to accurately cut these on my saw table they were easily manageable.
The ply does require a bit more surface finishing. With Birch I find two coats of Acrylic varnish, 400 grit de-nib between coats gives a very serviceable result. With the Poplar I've needed 3 coats.

Colin

 

[Ollie78]

Update. I've been using the 18mm sheet of Poplar plywood I bought in before X-Mas. The surface is not as good as the Birch and does have some bruises. As mentioned above, the number of laminates is less but as they are thicker it is easier to sand out some fairly deep marks.
The lower weight per sheet is a blessing if working by yourself. I'd used my cordless to cut a sheet down the length into 2 pieces of 8x2 ft. When I came to accurately cut these on my saw table they were easily manageable.
The ply does require a bit more surface finishing. With Birch I find two coats of Acrylic varnish, 400 grit de-nib between coats gives a very serviceable result. With the Poplar I've needed 3 coats.

Colin

Thanks for the update . I was a bit worried it might be a bit soft and vulnerable.

Ollie

 

[benhen31]

I'm still waiting for the stretek panel to become available (any day now they say). Although it is poplar, they've built it to try and mimic birch ply. So it's got more layers than usual for poplar ply to try and mimic the look of baltic birch and thicker outer veneers. Hopefully I'll soon see if it's just hype or if it is actually a viable replacement for baltic birch!

 

[Pabs]

I got 4 quarters of this from wickes Inverness last week and I'm chuffered!

 

[BucksDad]

Any update @benhen31 - did you get your stretek boards and what was the verdict?

Robin Clevett has just posted a video with a project he’s going to be using them on so bound to be an uptick of interest on these

 

[benhen31]

Any update @benhen31 - did you get your stretek boards and what was the verdict?

Robin Clevett has just posted a video with a project he’s going to be using them on so bound to be an uptick of interest on these

Yes, it's good. I've only had one sheet but it looked and handled great.
You can see the aesthetics of the raw STRETEK in Robin's video a few times:
It's most of the way there to a birch ply alternative. If you had them side by side you'd notice the difference, but on it's own you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference.

 

[TRITON]

Google is giving it at £60 a sheet for 18mm 8x4.

 

[Myfordman]

Check out Peter Millard on youtube. He has been reviewing a few of these birch ply substitutes.

 

[benhen31]

Google is giving it at £60 a sheet for 18mm 8x4.

For the STRETEK? Where's that from? I think I paid more like £95 for the sheet, although that was when it'd only just come out. Maybe it's cheaper now.
The main advantage over the birch was that I could actually get it, rather than the price - although it was a bit cheaper.