Why is Birch plywood sold in this size – I cant get that size into my car?
Forgetting the transportation issue, is there a real good woodworking reason for 5×5?
Thanks
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Replies
It's all about the transportation issue, LOL
I have no idea how the heck they came up with that one.
Baltic ply is imported and , apparently, they like that size overseas. This past weekend, I bought some "baltic birch" plywood from my wood retailer that has been imported from China!! It is 4x8 and is BEAUTIFUL stuff. I wonder if we exported the wood to them !!?? It was $38 a sheet vs. $35 a sheet for the 5x5 stuff.
Barry in WV
You might want to check the thickness of the outer skin as I just bought some "China" birch and it is no more than .007" thick. The thinnest I have ever seen. Looks great from a distance but is very uneven and has slight ripples in it. Price was only $21.00 per 4'x 8' sheet and regular US or European birch runs $26 to $28 per sheet. Guess you get what you pay for. Hope yours is better.
I've been making a lot of shop cabinets since the first of the year and have bought four 3/4" sheets of the China Birch, two sheets at a time, a couple of weeks apart. I cut them up to their approximate size before I brought them into my (small) shop, stored them flat, and everything was used in less than three weeks after I got it home. The first two sheets were fine, thin outerply as you note, but they are shop cabinets built to hold lots of drawers, I figure who cares? When I started the second batch of cabinets after those sheets had been there for a week, almost half was unusable due to warping. Turns out they had gotten a different supplier on the second batch and had problems with much of it. I paid the difference and got the regular cabinet grade stuff to replace it. I hope the stuff I chopped up and used doesn't warp out of shape the next time it rains. I have been kicking myself for using any of it the second go round.
I have not seen Baltic Plywood in 4 x 8 sheets made in China, but I have bought several other types of "hardwood" plywood made in China from Home Depot. I have had two occurances, where a foreign piece of steel was imbedded inside the layers of plywood, and when I clipped it with my carbide blade on the table saw, I found that I chipped several teeth. I carried a section of the plywood, with the steel piece showing and the chipped blade back to Home Depot and they did give me a comparable blade. Then we dug out the piece of steel and it was a part of a razor blade.
John
I am speculating here based on experience.
When we use the 5' x 5' in our shop for drawer sides, we have very little waste, which is not the case using a 4' x 8' sheet. JL
My guess, educated at best...is that is the Americanized version of that sheet size. It would roughly be 1500mm x 1500mm (1520mm x 1520mm) converted out to metric. If you measured the sheet, I would be willing to bet it is the true 1500 x 1500 size, I have neved used any 5' x 5' sheet stock, but that is my guess. Can anyone support that? I would think that manf./retailers like the idea of selling in a unit that we feel comfortable with feet not millimeters/meters.
Donkey
Edited 3/5/2007 2:33 pm ET by wood_donkey
the 5x5 sheet in my garage (which i will get around to making shop cabinets out of some day. Really, I will. Really) is exactly 5ft. by 5 ft. Not a millimeter more or less.
tarsalas
When youu get around to building your cabinets with it, you will find it a lovely material to work with. JL
It's all about how much waste you'll have.
Recently I built some speaker cabinets, I got some great yeild form 5' x 5'.
4' x 8' would have left me with almost 40% waste.
Why not 5 x 5' ? If you wish to buy Baltic birch, you, by definition, have put yourself in the global lumber market. Baltic birch is typically manufactured in Russia where 1525 x 1525 mm is the standard. So, if you want that product, then that's the way it's going to be.
As you know, China is geared to selling anything it can to the U.S. It then chooses to manufacture 4 x 8' plywood, because there is a huge market for that size. That birch plywood is not Baltic. (China is no where near the Baltic Sea.)
There are many issues that revolve around metric vs. imperial measurements. This maybe is one, small example; and reminds us that the U.S. doesn't decide what the rest of the world should do.
4 x 8' is nice given 16" O.C. stud placement . . . but (you guessed it) that is not universal either. (In Japan, studs are spaced at 17.8" for example.) I'll guess there are not many stud walls in Russia.
I enjoy working with Baltic birch, and would buy it if it were 2 x 7' (or whatever fits in my car). :-)
I recently bought a 5 ft x 5 ft sheet of 1/4" baltic birch, had to lean it in the back of my 4 x 8 long-box pick up, got it home 10 minutes later, and it has been warped ever since. Not impressive.
Jim Bell
Put it back in you PU leaning the other direction to straighten it out. It will only take 10 minutes. LOL
dude, that's my best laugh of the day! thanks.
That was my intention. Glad it worked.
I use lots of 1/2" for drawers. I know what you mean about hauling. When I buy I usally have other material in my order and I load it on my materials rack. I load it between other material and strap front and back to hold it all down. works ok for me.
I recently bought a 5 ft x 5 ft sheet of 1/4" baltic birch, had to lean it in the back of my 4 x 8 long-box pick up, got it home 10 minutes later, and it has been warped ever since. Not impressive.
if I have to use a pick-up to bring this stuff home (as opposed to a bigger truck or a flatbed), I figure out what first rip cut would be appropriate on each piece, based on the intended project. I have the supplier rip off a piece so that it will lay flat.
I like this stuff and rarely use any other plywood. The stuff I get is really from Russia (has a green stamp with Russian alphabet characters on it); I keep hearing bad stuff about the Chinese knock-off.
Just a question bout that china ply that is in the big box stores, and noew has appeared at my cab supply( sigh) .
Does anyone get headaches from the smell of cutting it? I guess its the glue Idont really know, but it has happened to me three times now.????????
Thanx Eric
Eric,
Headaches are a common symptom of exposure to the formaldehyde given off by the glues commonly used in plywood.
Years ago I had a problem with getting headaches every day in my shop when I was working with sheet goods. I finally ran into some information about formaldehyde exposure and solved the problem with better ventilation and by not storing surplus sheet goods in the shop. It still took me several years to completely shake off my sensitivity to the stuff though, walkng into a warehouse filled with sheet goods would make me sick in just minutes.
In the U.S., manufacturers were required, starting several years ago, to use glue formulations that greatly reduced the amount of formaldehyde released by plywood and particle board because it is both a carcinogen and general health hazard. I suspect that the Chinese are ignoring the low formaldehyde requirements or are so sloppy in mixing their glue batches that the glues aren't reacting properly and are rapidly evaporating off the excess unreacted formaldehyde.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Thanx for the info John, I had suspected something like that but wasnt sure. As you state about the chinese perhaps not adhering to the glue guidelines, they must use some potent chemicals. I am always using melamine in my shop for grocery store breadboxes, I believe it comes from canada and thought it was loaded with formaldehyde, however , have never gotten a headache from that. Any how I will try to be more careful with plywood in the future. Thanx again
Eric
The reason for this "odd" size is that the logs are difficult to harvest in the area grown and the russian equipment is not the greatest. It is easier for them to handle the approximate 5'+ logs and peel the veneer. Seems slightly archaic. Speaking of archaic, up until fairly recently (last 10 years or so) chinese plywood was produced with veneers that were basically hung to dry on clotheslines. It made for very random moisture levels and the plywood tended to warp badly. Large investments have been made in the equipment used and their plywood quality is much better these days.
A ping pong table is 9 x 5. Therefore two pieces of 5X5 make a very nice folding top. Now - get back to work :>)
Bill
You guys amaze me. that china birch is made 12 miles off shore and the center filler is poplar, and it is not very dry. I bought one load, 50 sheets for $18.00 a sheet, is 13 ply and pretty as can be, within a week started to warp and plys seperate. Supplier said they were having glue problems. Get what you pay for and I got stuffed.
Hi Vietvet67 , One supplier told me he sells units of the stuff to one particular customer and he has had no problems or complaints . I asked what kind of work does the guy do with the plywood and he told me he basically covers the walls on the inside of boxcars without even cutting the sheets , the right product for the application , go figure !
dusty
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