Thread: Plywood Supply Perth

What do you call too expensive? There's pretty much nothing that costs more than marine ply, $2-300 is par for the course

Is 2-300 that Australian stuff?

The stuff I got from Gumtree was meant to be Marine Plywood but it was full of voids but the surface veneer was really good that was $42 per full size sheet

I have also bought some BSM Marine Ply that was from Laminex and was about $80 a sheet.

With what Im doing Im quite price sensitive - Id prefer to use the best stuff I can but then the product would be too expensive and nobody would buy

Yes, that's 18mm AA Marine Hoop Pine.

What thickness are you buying? $80 seems very cheap

I'm afraid thats the price point.

Marine ply that is compliant to the aus standard is pricey mostly due to the fact that its made in Australia, but also because its made to a high standard. British standard ply is the cheap stuff. The british standard is equivalent to Aus standards but compliance by manufacturers is quite low and very hit and miss. All British Marine Ply is imported and comes and is of unknown quality. eg have heard stories of them using all kinds of strange materials in the ply. I've purchased from the chap on Gumtree before and will agree with you and wouldn't buy again.

Depending on what you're making using marine plywood will make very little difference if you finish the wood accordingly, leaving marine plywood unfinished will deteriorate at the same rate as standard plywood. So no point in going with marine other than possibly the surface veneer quality and plys being hardwood.

Originally Posted by tonzeyd

So no point in going with marine other than possibly the surface veneer quality and plys being hardwood.

And there being few to zero voids, which is important for seen edges in furniture.

Yeah the only reason Im using marine ply is to try and avoid the voids....So to speak...

I guess if I can find a reliable BSM supplier that would do the trick - Unless there is another grade of affordable plywood out there i'm not aware of the has few to no voids and a nice surface veneer

Agreed

As mentioned depends on how the item will be finished as some of the plywood I've used in the past has very few voids and the voids that are present are smaller than a lady bugs head which can easily be filled or epoxied obviously this is time consuming so if you're in a hurry might be worth biting the bullet

I've bought a few sheets from the guy in Wangara on Gumtree. There was a couple of voids here and there, but for the price it was great plywood.

Are you friendly with any cabinet makers? They have access to trade pricing from Gunnersons and WWTT.

Have you contacted Gunnersons to see what they offer in void free ply?

Gunnesons stuff is pretty much same stuff everyone in Perth has in stock. Actually I've found Gunnesons supplies most of Perth. So if you like Gunnesons stuff alomost anywhere eg Bunnings can order it in for you. You can also pop into Gunnesons where they'll show you what they have in stock and you can go to one of their resellers to order what you're after.

I have purchased a lot of plywood from Morgan Timbers. Austral manufactured here in Aus. Expensive though, but excellent product. Otherwise I sometimes get marine ply from the big green shed at $140 per 18mm sheet. Reasonably good quality.
Les

Originally Posted by weirdbeard

Is 2-300 that Australian stuff?

The stuff I got from Gumtree was meant to be Marine Plywood but it was full of voids but the surface veneer was really good that was $42 per full size sheet

I have also bought some BSM Marine Ply that was from Laminex and was about $80 a sheet.

With what Im doing Im quite price sensitive - Id prefer to use the best stuff I can but then the product would be too expensive and nobody would buy

a few points

"Marine ply" is specified in terms of it's resistance to delaminating when immersed in boiling water. Internal voids have little influence on this,

most plywood, including "AA" ply, is specified in terms of the extent of voids in the face veneer.

If internal voids are your concern - then you really need to be using furniture grade ply.

As to cost vs quality -- it's really your decision. Accept the internal voids, price the product you are making to account for using "no voids" ply, or give up.

here in Canada, I would be paying close to $100 for a sheet of 1500 x 1500 x 3/4" Baltic Birch ply