Birch ply substitute?

[JimiJimi]

Hi all

Can anyone suggest a good substitute for 18 mm birch ply? I have been using the ply to make toys and ornaments, but it does tend to splinter at the edges in fine detail cuts. I want to find a solid wood substitute, but still retain the light colour and relatively plain grain.

Jimi

 

[marcros]

how wide does it need to be? a maple or sycamore should be light in colour- or through and through london plane is pretty bland. But wide boards may give you more of a problem with movement than they solve!

 

[JimiJimi]

I would want at least 100 mm but ideally more. I also need to buy it ready planed which I know makes it more difficult. I have tried to find a source for sycamore, but every time I try a place that advertised that they sell it, they say they don't stock it as there is no call for it anymore.

What exactly do you mean by movement?

 

[marcros]

i meant that if it is not fully dry, then you may have some cupping or twist as it changes moisture content further.

there is maple here http://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/plane ... imber.html but it will be a lot more than your birch ply.

you may also try flooring- solid wood flooring will be about 3/4" thick and 4+ inches wide. may also be expensive compared to a 2.88m2 sheet of ply at £50.

 

[Claymore]

why not try some Beech chopping/bread boards no planing needed and lovely fine grain there's always loads on Ebay etc

 

[scrimper]

Hobbies do small panels up to 150mm wide http://www.alwayshobbies.com/materials/wood/panels Ok if you only need a small quantity.

 

[JimiJimi]

The obeche from Hobbies looks about right. What is it like to cut?

 

[profchris]

Obeche is soft as butter, a fingernail can mark it. It will cut easily and pretty cleanly (with a handsaw anyway,I don't have a scroll saw) but might be too soft to last well for toys. OK for ornaments.

 

[scrimper]

I agree with Profchris, obeche is useless for fretwork, much too soft, I have used spruce for toys and other fretted items but it can have split out at the rear of the cut, however it is cheap to buy and readily available.

Have you tried Model shops/ They often sell small wood panels.

(I machine my own spruce (thicknesser) for fretwork from normal readily available supplies but one thing to watch out for with spruce is the resin pockets, make sure you don't have any to spoil your work.)

 

[RobinBHM]

You could try tulipwood, although it would need to be selected as although it can be pale cream, it can also have brown streaks or be dark green or dirty grey!

It a fairly fine grained timber though which cuts well.

 

[Tony G]

I swear I had seen some Birch cutting boards in my local £1 shop recently, going to have to double check now.

 

[JimiJimi]

Ok, so I picked up a bit of obeche to try out and yes, Profchris and Scrimper, you are right, it is much too soft. If I can't get sycamore (I am still trying) then I wondered about Beech. I have heard it is really hard to cut - is this true?

 

[Claymore]

I use Beech upto 40mm thick all the time for my Intarsias and yes its very hard but cuts lovely (I actually cut my finger on some today doing the Welsh Dragon project, just like a paper cut and stings like hell lol) You just have to take your time cutting it and use a new blade and also put very little pressure on the blade and you will be surprised at how quick you get through it. Look out for Beech chopping boards and office furniture to cut up.
The grain is very fine and does vary in colour so some is sort of golden colour and other bits might be virtually white, if varnishing it Acrylic varnish is best as it won`t affect the colour as much as the oil based.
Its probably my second most used wood (Oak is number one)
Sycamore is hard to get hold of online and is usually quite expensive, we have our own small woodland so I have got some drying out and should be ready end of next year (want to keep it flat so no rushing the drying stages, it will warp badly if you do..... like i did and ruined a lovely piece)

Cheers
Brian
ps if you look at my photos the large Sheep is made from thick Beech... that particular piece has a golden tint