Thread: Where to get Baltic Pine Plywood in Adelaide

I think you mean Baltic Birch ply

Baltic Pine is that knotty stuff they use for floor boards

Why not use MDF? I made a tablesaw sled with 19mm MDF a number of years ago and it is as flat as the day I made it.

Getting birch ply is difficult. The best thing that is easily available is marine grade ply, but it is quite expensive.

Unfortunately decent plywood is expensive and a bit harder to find in Australia.

If you watch / read stuff from the USA you'll see them use heaps of Baltic birch. It's readily available and pretty cheap there.

Consider using structural or non-structural film faced ply i.e. "form ply" as it is quite stable. I use MDF, structural ply, form ply and plain old Monterey Pine (fancy name for Radiata Pine or "crapiata") boards for my many table saw sleds, depending upon the purpose and expected longevity of the sled.

Many of my sleds are "one off" disposables made from radiata, but the long termers are good quality ply topped with Masonite and designed with replaceable throat inserts and faces for fences. That way I can easily change out the inserts to accommodate various saw blade kerf widths and maintain zero clearance which is my only real option due to the panel saw's sliding table design.

Birch Aircraft ply is what you need to be looking for.
Ive been retired now about 5 years so this stuff may no longer be available here in Oz.
Brunzeel had it in Sydney from about 1mm up to about 30mm.
They also had stuff that was not certified for aircraft and was cheaper.
H.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

I think you mean Baltic Birch ply

Baltic Pine is that knotty stuff they use for floor boards

Your right, I did mean Baltic Birch, silly me I got a little excited at the prospect of actually getting some

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Consider using structural or non-structural film faced ply i.e. "form ply" as it is quite stable. I use MDF, structural ply, form ply and plain old Monterey Pine (fancy name for Radiata Pine or "crapiata") boards for my many table saw sleds, depending upon the purpose and expected longevity of the sled.

Many of my sleds are "one off" disposables made from radiata, but the long termers are good quality ply topped with Masonite and designed with replaceable throat inserts and faces for fences. That way I can easily change out the inserts to accommodate various saw blade kerf widths and maintain zero clearance which is my only real option due to the panel saw's sliding table design.

I was actually thinking of either MDF or Form Ply, I have used Form Ply for a couple of other projects and quite happy with it, and I know MDF is pretty stable, I like the idea of replaceable throat plates to look after the MDF base.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Consider using structural or non-structural film faced ply i.e. "form ply" as it is quite stable. I use MDF, structural ply, form ply and plain old Monterey Pine (fancy name for Radiata Pine or "crapiata") boards for my many table saw sleds, depending upon the purpose and expected longevity of the sled.

Many of my sleds are "one off" disposables made from radiata, but the long termers are good quality ply topped with Masonite and designed with replaceable throat inserts and faces for fences. That way I can easily change out the inserts to accommodate various saw blade kerf widths and maintain zero clearance which is my only real option due to the panel saw's sliding table design.

I was actually thinking of either MDF or Form Ply, I have used Form Ply for a couple of other projects and quite happy with it, and I know MDF is pretty stable, I like the idea of replaceable throat plates to look after the MDF base.

We are so far behind here in Oz for a lot of woodworking supplies, mainly wood but also a lot of the nifty measuring and marking tools