Russian/baltic plywood hardness for benchtop
Short story: Whats the hardness of baltic birch plywood? To be used as workbench top
Long story: I built a workbench out of 2×4’s, based on all the “americans” using Southern yellow pine” which is unavailable here, thinking it would be similar, love the bench, however the top was way too soft for a woodworking bench, so i plopped an Ikea countertop on it, built aprons and attached a bench planing stop, etc.. Actually saw southern yellow pine recently on a lift pallet at work , looks nice.
Anyways, as expected the Ikea countertop curves ( bows), most of the time it doesnt bother me. but when i need a flat reference surface i have to put a piece of plywood on top. So this piece is around 1 1/8 inch ( whatever the thickness of Ikea counter is) i want to replace with something, obviously laminated wood will probably bow the same way, i do not want MDF or the likes nor do i want to replace the whole bench top with with maple, too much work ( i know i should have done it properly the first time, but due to tool limitation it seemed like a good idea)
Anyone used russian birch plywood as benchtop?
to make things clear, the bench top is about 3 inch thick 2×4’s with about 1 1/8 inch counter top right on top, even though its treated with oil it still absorbs enough moisture from the top to bow
Replies
It depends
I wouldn't think that Baltic Birch ply would be suitable for a benchtop, but that really depends on how you use the bench. It would dent fairly easily, I'd think, so it wouldn't be suitable if you strike the surface often - either with a hammer or, say, seating a chisel.
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