Short story:
Anyone ever made a benchtop from russian (baltic) plywood?? I have laminated spruce 2×4 I need a harder surface to put on top?
Long story:
I had a maple project and was planing my wood by hand with a #8 jointer. My small bench would move around, lift in the air, etc.. So i decide to make a heavier one. Obviously maple would have been great but the problem is i need a bench to work on the maple. So on the internet lots of my “american” friends use southern yellow pine for their benches, however its a species no one has evered heard of in Quebec. I used regular spruce 2×4’s, everything is fine. But its way too soft for the top so i bought a slab of Ikea beech kitchen counter. Woks great, however it bows a clittle, because the top absorbs more moisture than the bottom ( the bottom sits on a slab of 2×4’s). I could remove the top let it equilibrate to flat and seal it with varnish but i dont like slippery surfaces, its oil treated now or give it several layers of oil and hope that solves the problem or, replace it with baltic birch plywood.
Comments, suggestions welcome
Thank you
Replies
Good choice
I believe that baltic birch is a practical and sensible choice for a bench top.
Baltic birch bench top..
Boubou,
I've had Baltic birch on my benchtop for about ten years now. It works splendidly. The secret is backing it up with something solid to add ridigity and mass to the plywood.
I found a damaged solid core door at a lumberyard and used that as the benchtop "base" material. I screwed the Baltic birch to the door from the underside, and that's about it - a heavy, solid, smooth, flat top for way less money and way less time than it would take me to glue up and surface a solid wood top. Plus, it has stayed flat all these years. I think I paid about ten bucks for the door and maybe $35 for the plywood. Can't get much less expensive than that..
My plan was to make the Baltic birch top reversible so that, after a period of time, I could unscrew it and flip it over to create a fresh surface. So far that has not been necessary. I work on - not into - the surface. And other than some dings, scratches and other typical wear marks (and a couple of blood stains...) the top is still in great shape. And I use it a lot. It has proven durable in addition to all its other attributes.
I might have doused it with a coat of danish oil when I first built it but haven't done a thing to it since, other than to brush it off and scrape off the randon drip of shellac or glue..
Zolton
All right, well underneath the ikea counter top i have laminated 2x4's so thats pretty solid, when i get a chance i'll see about changing the top to have a flat one. A couple of problems, most of the russian plywood around is 4 feet long, my bench is longer ( though i might be able to find some) second i would love to be able to get the same thickness so that i dont have to change the skirt of my bench, and its wider than my 13 inch planer, sigh!
russian baltic birch plywood
In looking for the strength specs for Baltic Birch plywood for The Sagulator author I came across the Finnish Plywood organization - sorry for no url but I am on vacation and using a borrowed computer. They specifically caution that Russian Baltic Birch is softer than Finnish Baltic Birch and tends to contain voids.
I would not recommend it for a bench top if it is to be subjected to hard knocks.
If you want the url, e-mail me in about 2 weeks and I will look it up.
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