Chuck asks:
>>Are there solid baltic birch available?
Are "baltic" and "brich" same thing?
Are Appleply for if wanting "maple" look? <<
Chinese poplar does a pretty good maple look, if soft maple is what you
mean. Baltic birch is a type of superior plywood, more plies per
thickness. Appleply is another type of superior quality plywood. By
definition, Baltic birch cannot be solid wood. It needs glue. Baltic
and birch are nowhere near the same thing.
In article <[email protected]>, CNT <[email protected]> wrote:
>Are there solid baltic birch available?
Not a meaningful question, _as_stated_. It's not at all clear what you are
trying to ask.
'Baltic birch' is _plywood_, thus it is *not* "solid" lumber.
Baltic birch plywood does not have any 'holes' in the interior, so it
_is_ "solid" in the sense of being "void free" (the technical description).
Thus, the answer to the question, as asked, is "yes", *OR* "no", depending
on what you intended to be asking. <grin>
>Are "baltic" and "brich" same thing?
"brich" ?? Ah, the singular of 'britches' -- thats like one pant of a pair! :)
seriously...
No. 'Birch" is the name for a family of wood species. Describes several
different kinds of trees. White Birch, River Birch, Silver Birch,
Paper Birch, etc.
'Baltic birch' describes a type of _plywood_, made from a comparatively
large number of _thin_ plies, that is, among other things, "void free".
i.e. no knot-holes, or similar 'gaps' in the interior plies. It's made
from birch wood.
>Are Appleply for if wanting "maple" look?
"Appleply" is a brand-name. Usually sold in a poplar veneer. Looks
'sorta-kinda' like maple, depending on how you finish.
On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:22:59 -0000, CNT <[email protected]> wrote:
>Are there solid baltic birch available?
If you go to the Baltic. Not much of it gets exported as solid timber though.
>Are "baltic" and "brich" same thing?
No, I can buy Latvian ply locally that's birch, and some that isn't. All the birch ply I see locally (UK) is
Baltic-sourced, but then some of the "birch" is no more made of birch than the "mahogany" is mahogany. Even for birch
ply from the Baltic region, there's good stuff and bad stuff. The really nice stuff is good veneers without voids, thin
veneers, and lots of them.
Talk to your supplier. Talk quality to them. I've not personally seen top-grade non-tropical ply that wasn't "baltic
birch", but then it your part of the world there might be something just as good that isn't from there. I live in a
city that has been importing Baltic timber for a couple of hundred years - it's just our usual local product.
"CNT" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So...
>
> "baltic" is a name of a country/region or culture.
> "birch" is a type of wood species.
>
> "birch" wood can be found in solids.
> "baltic birch" just means a type of plywood with birch layers.
>
> Correct?
>
Correct. Baltic Birch is unique in that it has about twice as many layers
as regular plywood for the same thickness, sold in 5' x 5' sheets, and the
inner layers are the same wood as the outer layer. Typically hardwood
veneer plywoods have pine interior layers and sometimes a couple of layers
of MDF.
Baltic Birch plywood is very similar to "Russian" plywood and Appleply.
Appleply being the American version of the Baltic Birch type plywood.
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Baltic birch is a type of superior plywood, more plies per
> thickness. Appleply is another type of superior quality plywood. By
> definition, Baltic birch cannot be solid wood. It needs glue. Baltic
> and birch are nowhere near the same thing.
>
Much of it came from the Baltic region, thus the name.
CNT <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
> So, it is possible for me to buy birch lumber, not the ply ones? I
> haven't looked for it, just want to know if I could buy it locally.
>
> Chuck
>
>>> "birch" wood can be found in solids.
>
>> Correct.
>
Yes, you can. Depending on what you do, it may be more, or less, useful to
you.
Find the best supplier of sheet goods to the cabinet making trade, and find
out if they sell to hobbyists. These folks generally know their stuff!
For example, I spent 5 minutes with the counter guy yesterday at the yard
(www.pals4wood.com), spent $175, and came home with a load of REALLY nice
stuff, matching exactly what I needed.
I needed 1 premium sheet in quarter inch, MDF core, maple, plus some other
stuff. I actually only needed about 1/4 sheet for the project that's on
the bench, but you can't buy this stuff that way. When I loaded into the
storage rack, I found that the side I hadn't seen was maybe 80% birdseye,
bookmatched veneers. Sometimes you get MORE than you paid for.
So find a good yard, that moves a lot of volume. Go in mid-afternoon, when
it's slower. Ask a few questions, and take some recommendations. Most of
these places also sell hardwoods, too. At least enough to work with the
sheet goods they sell.
Patriarch
So uh, Charlie, How is that Bird House book coming along?
"Charlie Self" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Chuck asks:
>
>>>Are there solid baltic birch available?
>
>
> Are "baltic" and "brich" same thing?
>
>
> Are Appleply for if wanting "maple" look? <<
>
> Chinese poplar does a pretty good maple look, if soft maple is what you
> mean. Baltic birch is a type of superior plywood, more plies per
> thickness. Appleply is another type of superior quality plywood. By
> definition, Baltic birch cannot be solid wood. It needs glue. Baltic
> and birch are nowhere near the same thing.
>
If memory serves me the term 'Baltic Birch" comes from the high-grade' Birch
plywood that was imported from the European/Russian Baltic Region. I don't
know if all of it still comes from over there or not.
It is a very good and stable product and when stained dark it can resemble
maple but you still have to cope with the ply edges. I agree with an
earlier post that some grades of Poplar can kinda look like Maple but it is
softer. If you want to look like Maple your best bet is go with Maple.