Thread: Aussie plywood

Guess what - one of the guys is a member of the Forums (just can't quite remember his handle)

That would be one of our senior members Bloggsy, as seen in another recent thread:

Originally Posted by bloggs1968

I guess that would be me (Denman Marine). Should be about 6 weeks away. We will be the sole importer of Joubert Marine Ply into Australia.

I realise that this is a bit of commercial post but it probably benefits many of us who have tried to get decent ply in Australia in the last few years. I got sick and tired of trying to source decent gaboon marine ply in Australia. Most of it was stamped with an illegible smudged BS1088 and when we tried to get actual confirmation from suppliers that the ply was compliant they could not provide this.

I had actually switched over to using hoop marine (despite the weight penalty) for our last three boats as the quality in the imported gaboon was just not there.

This is the real deal as far as BS1088 compliant marine ply goes. Manufactured in France with gaboon/okoume throughout and is constructed to BS1088-1:2003. It carries Lloyds Register type approval and it will also carry FSC certification. (happy to supply evidence of either certification) We will have 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 25mm. Sheet size is 2500 x 1220.

see http://www.joubert-group.com/gamme_produit.php?id=383 for further info

Pricing will be a bit more than the other imported gaboon doing the rounds but well below hoop.

If anyone would like further information let me know via email.

Happy to offer discounts to forum members.

regards,

AD

He has just started carrying it - which is way cool. An alternative to all the cheap Chinese stuff.

Some of the Chinese stuff is quite good, but the problem is the supply source changes frequently (or that is my impression). Sometimes it can be good another time a bad shipment will come through so there has been no consistency of quality.

Now with some quality boards around some will choose to go that way just to make things easier on themselves, even though it will be more expensive.

Until now all the plywoods have been competing on price only so the pressure was always for the price to drop and the quality became secondary. The Chinese were only too happy to try to meet our expectation of low prices.

So now there is a decent board that will break that cycle at least partially.

Maybe some of the suppliers bringing chinese boards in will attempt to compete with the Joubert by finding better quality that will slot under the Joubert in price - as that is the way for them to compete in that market.

But Andrew Denman looks like the source for the good, reliable stuff. It is good news that it will be cheaper than Hoop!

MIK

Hi Guys,

I guess I better fess up.

I was going to wait until the first container load left France next week to announce it on a larger scale.

I got sick of having to reject gaboon due to quality. I had built with Joubert previously and found it really good. Originally I was only going to bring it in for the boats we were building but it appeared that the demand was there so we thought why not bring it in for everyone. We had a smaller shipment a couple of weeks ago and it is certainly nice to see decent face veneers again. As a guy who works for me says, what's the worst that can happen??? In this case, I would probably have enough gaboon for my own business for the next 10 years if no one buys any......

Anyway, I don't want to breach forum guidelines on advertising but it will be available in about another 6 weeks and pricing is pretty competitive with discounts on larger lots. If anyone would like further info or samples please email.

regards,

AD

What's even better is, the plywood sheet sizes are bigger than your typical 2.4x1.2 m sheet size, meaning even more ply for your money !!
regards
Mark
www.bowdidgemarinedesigns.com

Mark, get back to your drawing board, shoo, go on off you go now, some of us are waiting to see your progress on some of your designs, the overtime i am doing is killing me but will pay off soon enough ha ha

Cheers,
kev

Crikey, Kev, you cracked me up when I read that. Mate, I'm going like the clappers at the moment. And while my mouse is smoking, I just picked up 2 more boat design contracts in the past 3 days. Now the list is getting longer.
1/ The 17 ft cruise Control 5.2
2/ A 24 ft Displacement Motor Cruiser to be powered by an outboard
3/ A 19ft "pop top" Camper boat
4/ A 16 ft side/ centre console
5/ A 24 ft inboard diesel Motor cruiser
and on top of that an enquiry for a 43 ft power cat.
If this keeps up I'm going to have to put on another Nav Arch and expand our design office
In the meantime Kev, get back to your overtime...ha ha

regards
mark
www.bowdidgemarinedesigns.com

"In the meantime Kev, get back to your overtime...ha ha".........touche

Originally Posted by PAR

Have you folks contacted this outfit? They carry Joubert BS 1088, the stuff we drool over here in the states. What is shipping like from Tasmania for you?

Denman Marine - Wooden Boat Builders using Traditional and M

Yes PAR, I missed Andrew when I was in Kettering last month, as he was on vacation. Never mind, he contacted me when he got back and let me know he was now the sole Joubert Gaboon/Okoume marine ply agent in Australia. Great news for us Aussies isn't it, as the Joubert Gaboon marine ply has the Lloyd’s Register Type Approval BS1088?!

His first shipment is due to arrive early to mid December and my GIS's ply is amongst it!

Contact Andrew at http://www.denmanmarine.com.au/

Andrew Denman has written a very comprehensive and informative page on the Joubert Gaboon marine ply available from Denman Marine in Tasmania.
Thanks Andrew, your explanation of the BS1088 standard is excellent, and clearly not much of the stuff we see in these parts any more is compliant, so it's good to know that you can supply us a with a reliable, quality product for our boat building!
Denman Marine - BS1088 Gaboon Marine Plywood

I have contacted bloggs1968 regarding his Joubert ply and received a favourable quote from him. In another post on this forum I had also mentioned that I used to deal with a company in Brookvale called Bruynzeel, now while the company still exists they no longer carry the Bruynzeel brand of ply, they do however still carry Gaboon ply which is the Nicma brand. On phoning Bruynzeel I spoke to Glenn who tells me that the Nicma ply is made in Malaysia and is 100% Gaboon veneers inside and out. A further source of Gaboon is Trend Timbers near Windsor, and they carry a French brand of Gaboon, obviously not Joubert as bloggs1968 has said he is the exclusive importer/ distributer. Now, this other French stuff I have had a look at and promtly fell in love with it as it is the real deal just like the Bruynzeel I remember so fondly. The prices I was quoted by Bruynzeel were just awsomely good and likewise for the ply from Trend Timbers. So if anyone in the Sydney area is after Gaboon I suggest they give both or either of these companies a go and negotiate your best price.

regards Harry

Further to my above post, bloggs1968 (Andrew) has been in touch with me regarding the Nicma brand of plywood. It seems he had been in touch with Bruynzeel as well and was told a different story to what I had been told. I had been told quite emphatically that it was made in Malaysia and in no way was the quality anything like the rubbish coming out of China, yet he tells me that he was told that in fact it was made in China, although as had been told him and myself that it is 100% Gaboon veneers. It appears that maybe one of us or even both of us were being led up the garden path a bit. Whilst I have not seen the ply from Bruynzeel I can now only recommend that you go and verify it for yourself. In relation to the other ply I mentioned, now that I can vouch for as I actually did see it and it was verrrrry nice.


Harry

Originally Posted by HaroldS

Further to my above post, bloggs1968 (Andrew) has been in touch with me regarding the Nicma brand of plywood. It seems he had been in touch with Bruynzeel as well and was told a different story to what I had been told. I had been told quite emphatically that it was made in Malaysia and in no way was the quality anything like the rubbish coming out of China, yet he tells me that he was told that in fact it was made in China, although as had been told him and myself that it is 100% Gaboon veneers. It appears that maybe one of us or even both of us were being led up the garden path a bit. Whilst I have not seen the ply from Bruynzeel I can now only recommend that you go and verify it for yourself. In relation to the other ply I mentioned, now that I can vouch for as I actually did see it and it was verrrrry nice.


Harry

Hi Harold,
Nicma plywood is a "brand" of plywood marketed by Nicholls and Maher (NZ) Ltd, hence the name. when I was shopping for plywood a few months ago now, I was told it was made in China. I think you can assume it is made in Asia anyway as they are not upfront in stating its origin.

The Joubert ply has the Lloyds certification as well as others , whereas the Nicma ply carries no certification whatsoever other than the rather dubious BS1088 standard which all manufacturers claim anyway and is not worth the ink on the stamp.

While this Nicma stuff may be OK, there are no guarantees provided by the Nicma, and its what you can't see that counts. When the guys flogging this Asian stuff get fair dinkum and provide us with a creditable guarantee of quality, maybe we'll give them some kudos. In the meantime, I'd stick with the guy who provides a ply of creditable origin and a quality certification that means something.

However, it's your choice. You may be getting a bargain, you may not.

G'day Bruce,

Exactly my point, that is why I put the update to my earlier post, it appears that they are willing to tell anyone what they think you want to hear rather than the facts as they are. I'ts a real shame that companies resort to these rather underhanded methods of disposing of their goods. In an email to Andrew I had mentioned to him that I had emailed Nichols and Maher regarding BS1088 compliance and certification and after nearly three weeks am yet to hear back from them. Nuff Said

Harry