Baltic Birch in/near Saint Louis

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #20 on:** 28 Nov 2020, 06:07 pm »

In the many years I spent on woodworking I never heard of or saw a 1 inch thick sheet of plywood. Before plywood was imported
from other countries american plywood was 3/4 inch thick. Not so today all plywood is a wee bit thinner.
I made drawers out of Baltic Birch. Now I use maple plywood. It is avaible. Baltic Birch is hard to find.

Cheers
Charlie

JohnH12 · « **Reply #21 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 12:52 am »

I glue sheets of Baltic birch or MDF together all the time without the vacuum bag. The main issue i've had is getting an even coat of glue and waiting for the glue to dry. My advice is to spread the glue with a 1/16 inch V notch trowel or rubber roller. I slide the panels back and forth to bed the panels in the glue then weight them. I will rough cut the panels before gluing up to make the glue up more manageable. There's going to be some shrinkage in the thickness after the glue/ panel dries. Not much of an issue if you are 45ing speaker box joints.

gerchin · « **Reply #22 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 01:10 am »

Quote from: JohnH12 on 29 Nov 2020, 12:52 am

I glue sheets of Baltic birch or MDF together all the time without the vacuum bag. [...] I slide the panels back and forth to bed the panels in the glue then weight them.

Thank you. How much weight do you use, and for how large an area? Have you had any problems with separation of the glued panels?

- Greg

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #23 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 01:16 am »

Quote from: gerchin on 29 Nov 2020, 01:10 am

Thank you. How much weight do you use, and for how large an area? Have you had any problems with separation of the glued panels?

- Greg

If you ever have an issue with the laminations separating, it won't be with the connection you made, it'll be with the factory 'glue'.
Of course, that depends on the stress you're putting on the material, of course.

gerchin · « **Reply #24 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 05:14 pm »

Finding 1" stock has proved to be so troublesome that I'm redesigning the enclosure for 3/4", with added bracing. Probably a superior solution anyway.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #25 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 05:14 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 29 Nov 2020, 01:16 am

If you ever have an issue with the laminations separating, it won't be with the connection you made, it'll be with the factory 'glue'.
Of course, that depends on the stress you're putting on the material, of course.

Buy 80lb bags of pre-mix concrete; pile them 2-3 deep on the entire surface, starting in the center. Bob, you think they would do the trick?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #26 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 06:16 pm »

"Long time, no talk to" Bob. Hope life is treating you well my friend!

Ye, that would definitely work. But two bags deep across a 5'x5' cheet would be a BUNCH of concrete, lots of heavy lifting, and then what do you do with it when the project is finished?

Long term, I'd prefer to buy a vacuum system. It's actually a lotta fun and a pretty cool tool to play with.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #27 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 06:28 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 29 Nov 2020, 06:16 pm

"Long time, no talk to" Bob. Hope life is treating you well my friend!

Ye, that would definitely work. But two bags deep across a 5'x5' cheet would be a BUNCH of concrete, lots of heavy lifting, and then what do you do with it when the project is finished?
Long term, I'd prefer to buy a vacuum system. It's actually a lotta fun and a pretty cool tool to play with.

Take it back to Home Depot, of course!

Did I forget to mention building a concrete pad for your trashcans?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #28 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 06:54 pm »

Love you man!

thunderbrick · « **Reply #29 on:** 29 Nov 2020, 07:00 pm »

JohnH12 · « **Reply #30 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 12:23 am »

Quote from: gerchin on 29 Nov 2020, 01:10 am

Thank you. How much weight do you use, and for how large an area? Have you had any problems with separation of the glued panels?

- Greg

About 50 lbs per square foot. I've gone as light as 25 lbs as I recall. Like others have said no issues with my glue joints, assuming a complete spread of glue. I never assume weight will spread glue.

Vacuum bagging Wenge veneer on speakers tonight...

Chalkdust · « **Reply #31 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 03:11 am »

Rockler has baltic birch. They don’t have 5x5 sheets, but my friend lives them for his woodworking projects. I bet they can get what you need.
https://www.rockler.com/3-4-baltic-birch-plywood

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #32 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 03:54 am »

Quote from: Chalkdust on 5 Dec 2020, 03:11 am

Rockler has baltic birch. They don’t have 5x5 sheets, but my friend lives them for his woodworking projects. I bet they can get what you need.
https://www.rockler.com/3-4-baltic-birch-plywood

That's crazy expensive!

That being said, a few years ago a 2"x4"x8' was $2. I checked a couple months ago and it was $6 (here in STL).
So I guess the rumors might be true, that with the combined destruction of hurricanes and leftist radicals rioting and breaking storefronts that needed to be boarded up, the costs are through the roof for basic materials like these.
Oddly enough, that a gallon of gas is $1.47 now, versus $4.00 a decade ago. Strange times we're living in.

gerchin · « **Reply #33 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 03:35 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 5 Dec 2020, 03:54 am

So I guess the rumors might be true, that with the combined destruction of hurricanes and leftist radicals rioting and breaking storefronts that needed to be boarded up, the costs are through the roof for basic materials like these.

I had no idea that people used expensive furniture-grade Baltic Birch for board-up.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #34 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 03:43 pm »

Quote from: gerchin on 5 Dec 2020, 03:35 pm

I had no idea that people used expensive furniture-grade Baltic Birch for board-up.

As a first choice definitely not. But when all the cheap stuff is gone and you want to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in structure and everything in it, that extra bit in material cost would seem much less significant.

gerchin · « **Reply #35 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 03:49 pm »

Seems pretty unlikely to me. Did you read this somewhere?

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #36 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 04:02 pm »

Just the buzz on the woodworking groups/forums talking about it. Plus, it's not so much folks looking to buy a 5x5 sheet to cover a window, it's the entire industry and all the supplies used are in shortage driving up costs even further. It seems more reasonable to me than shortages on toilet paper, that's for sure.

S Clark · « **Reply #37 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 04:10 pm »

What small amount of damage caused by civil unrest would be a small % of the damage by one hurricane. It would have no effect on material prices-- this is a politically driven meme.

But, material cost have certainly appreciated. My friend that's a contractor says that people have been redo-ing homes all through the Covid crisis, and he's never been busier.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #38 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 04:13 pm »

Those are richer folks than I. Last I checked, a 2x4 was $6. Wasn't long ago they were $2.

S Clark · « **Reply #39 on:** 5 Dec 2020, 04:26 pm »

I've used furniture grade 3/4 maple plywood before (on the front and rear baffles of my X-Static speakers). It's not 100% void free, but voids are rare. A local furniture manufacturer sold me some of their stock. Have no idea what it looks like at the big box stores, but it's available at least.