Why baltic birch?

[overfifty]

Baltic birch appears to be the material of choice for many scrollers - why? Thank you, Barry.

[countryscroller]

Well I'm sure people will go more in depth over it, but there are two types of plywood I know of. The kind you get at Lowes and the kind you get at like Michaels or a wood store. Simply baltic birch is really cheap and easy to come by. I get the Lowes kind and use it for portraits and what not. The Lowes kind has voids or holes going all the way through one end of the board to the other. I just don't use that part and get away with it. I'm not an expert on it, but I just like using it for portraits and what not. It has a nice grain pattern look on it and it is something cheap to get. I get mine in sheets 2' x2' or 2'x 4' depending on what vehicle I take to lowes with me.

[Dan26]

Here's a link that may not answer your question, but it has some good info: http://www.woodworkerssource.com/blog/?p=3066.

I think Baltic birch is used a lot because of availability. It has some good qualities and is relatively inexpensive compared to cherry, maple, and others. The quality varies quite a bit by where you get it and how much you pay. The big box stores sell construction/cabinet grade Baltic birch plywood which tend to have voids. The edges of these boards are usually covered. In scrolling, you want to avoid voids as it weakens delicate pieces. You can get aircraft grade Baltic birch plywood as certified and uncertified. You will pay more for the certified plywood but there seems to be no difference in the quality of the two.

I use it on most of my projects because I don't like a lot of grain. It's just my preference. I also use 1/8" plywood and it's difficult to find a variety of species at that thickness.

[mrsn]

I teach woodshop, and do a lot of stuff about material properties.
Baltic Birch true plywood comes in 5'x5' sheets, not 4'x8' like most other sheet goods. I don't know why it is a different size, I tell my students that it is a weird European thing (no offence guys )
Baltic Birch plywood has lots of layers, and all of them are the same material. A 3/4" thick piece can have 7 or 11 layers, making it more stable then other plywood. Also, the added glue layers make it stronger then other plywood. Even with the added layers, the layers are thicker then the finish veneers of other plywood, so it chips less and the chips are less noticeable because they are all the same material
I believe that true Baltic Birch Plywood has no voids, but other forms of birch plywood does have voids. This might not be entirely accurate, but the guy at the lumber yard said it was true.

Other types of plywood have a variety of cores, some better suited for scrolling then others. A lot of 1/4" stuff has a particle core with two thin face veneers. This typically doesn't hold up well to thin parts that are often in portraits.

The grain of BBP is pretty plain, so it doesn't distract from a design but is just enough to make it still look like wood.

The lack of voids, stability, strength and size make Baltic Birch Plywood an awesome material for scrolling.

[Marcellarius]

First the question why ply?
the layers of wood will give you the ability to cut 1/8" thick wood without breaking it on the grain.
normal wood needs to be at least 1/2" think when cutting small pieces and supports or it will break.
so next to the fact that ply is cheaper then hardwood you can cut thinner projects that will be great.

in our country we have three types of ply,
Baltic Birch, poplar and oukume (tropical hardwood)

Poplar is to soft and glue is not good, so cutting small supports and pieces will break easy.
Oukume has bigger and harder grains, so edges are splinter of easily, also after cutting while sanding edges get bad.
then there is BB...
best of all!
Birch is good, it has more layers then the poplar and edges will stay smooth even with small pieces and supports.

so BBP for me!

[Kepy]

MRSN hit the nail on the head.  Most big box stores don't carry true Baltic Birch.  I did find one that would order it special for me.  It typically runs about $20 for a 5x5 sheet around here.

[Billy in Va]

Well Geeeezzzzzz Keefie  Maybe you should have started a bit slower. Work you way up as it were.  Sometime you are such a blockhead!!!

[campasano]

Can we please refrain from name calling.
Mike

[overfifty]

Thank you all. Here in God's country we have a choice of one (SPF), unless it's special ordered. Thanks again, and good scrolling.

[dirtrider73068]

BB is good like was said no voids, no knots, or bad spots its clean on both sides, good choice for things like ornaments where both sides will show. Ply like lowes has is a inner core sometimes a foam wood core with a very thin veneer glued on, these are hard on blades dull them pretty fast, have voids holes gaps, and can break if close to a bad spot, I use the ply for things like plaques, portraits, or a wall hanging, and choosing where the piece will be can cut out the voids and knots, I use a birch ply or a oak ply both of which have the veneer on them, but my choice for wood is limited, I don't have band saw to get a good hardwood to resaw thinner, but also most my stuff I have cut people have loved it, and don't know the difference of the wood. I have even used laun as a red backer to give some contrast, and even used laun on a couple projects, its a junk wood, have to cut slow and keep a sharp blade in it or will splinter and chip.

[EIEIO]

Around here we get 1/8" BB Ply 5'x5' for $19 and 1/4" BB Ply 5'x5' for $29. When you consider the material cost of an 8x10 plaque cut from 1/4" material, it comes to $0.64. 12"x12" comes to $1.16. Even McDonalds charges more than that for a cup of coffee (unless you qualify for the Senior Coffee!). So the BB Ply material cost probably should not be an issue when you're spending several hours on a project, especially if good ply saves you from having to glue broken parts back in place and saves warping.

I like the 1/8" BB Ply for box top and bottom skins, and sometimes double them up to cut fretwork into the front layer and stain or paint the back layer. And I like the look of breaking the edge of that surface when sanding - the core give a bead look to the edge.