What is Baltic Birch Plywood?
What is Baltic Birch Plywood
Thomes is one of North America’s largest suppliers and importers of Baltic birch plywood. With over 50 years of industry experience, we provide high-quality lumber from Latvia and Finland, allowing manufacturers to acquire high-quality plywood at a lower cost, with more selection and availability than our competitors.
Baltic birch plywood offers extreme durability and versatility and is a preferred choice of material for many industries and applications. For wholesale customers looking to buy Baltic birch plywood, we offer direct mill shipments for large orders and warehouse deliveries for Canada and U.S.-based plywood distributors.
This guide will help you select the correct type of Baltic birch plywood for your application based on durability, strength, and size requirements. We will examine the different grades of this unique plywood, detailing the various products available at Thomes.
Overview of Baltic Birch Plywood
Baltic birch plywood refers to any type of birch sourced from the Baltic states. Thomes sources our Baltic birch specifically from Finland and Latvia.
Baltic birch plywood contains a cross-banded all-birch veneer core, laminated with exterior-grade glue. This type of plywood has a thicker face veneer and offers superior stability compared to traditional cabinet-grade plywood. Baltic birch has exceptional screw-holding strength and easy machinability, making it far superior to other types of plywood. For these reasons, Baltic birch is the preferred plywood type for crafting finger or dovetail joints in woodworking projects.
Grades of Baltic Birch Plywood
There are several grades of Baltic birch plywood:
Grade B
This one-piece face is typically light and uniform in color, with the surface sanded to create a natural finish. Minor brown streaks and occasional small pin knots may be acceptable, but this plywood grade should not have mineral streaks, voids, or patches. During summers, availability tends to be limited.
Grade BB
This one-piece face is usually light and consistently colored. Slight discoloration, mineral streaking, and pin knots are permitted. Before gluing, defects and open knots in BB face veneers must be removed and replaced with round or oval veneer patches that are the same color as the face veneer. The surface is sanded to create a smooth finish.
Grade CP
The one-piece face has a sanded surface and resembles grade BB plywood but may contain more streaking and minimal defects. Hairline splits of less than 0.5 mm are allowed, and the round or oval patches can match the color of the base face veneer, although it is not required. CP-grade plywood typically contains more patches per face compared to BB-grade plywood.
Grade C
The surface is not sanded, and veneer splits, open knots, and patches are allowed.
Types of Baltic Birch Plywood
Listed below are the types of available Baltic Birch Plywood from Thomes Ltd.
Veneer Core Plywood
In veneer core plywood, all the plies are oriented with the plane parallel to the panel’s surface. The direction of the grain in adjacent plies typically forms a right angle, with the inner and outer plies placed symmetrically on either side of a central core or ply. Lathes produce standard plywood veneer, peeling the log the same way a blade sharpens a pencil. A synthetic resin adhesive gets applied to the veneer before assembly, with the grain of each sheet at a 90° angle to the adjacent veneer plywood.
Film-Faced Plywood / Phenolic Plywood
Phenolic plywood is an engineered material created by combining and adhering various pieces of birch wood, such as sawdust, wood fibers, scrap wood, and genuine wood. Typically, 13 to 15 layers of these wood pieces create a 3/4-inch sheet. Phenolic plywood is a widely accepted material commonly used in residential and commercial construction.
When phenolic plywood is coated on both sides with treated resin, it becomes film-faced birch plywood. This film makes the plywood waterproof and wear-resistant, suitable for outdoor applications, such as outdoor playground equipment and furniture. The film can extend the service life of the plywood core.
Melamine Coated Plywood
While melamine is a form of laminate, not all laminates are melamine-based. Melamine-coated plywood is created by applying a set amount of pressure per square inch to the laminate, achieved by molding a combination of formaldehyde and melamine into a durable plastic sheet. The amount of pressure applied determines the laminate’s classification.
Melamine-coated plywood is resistant to fire, heat, stains, scratching, and moisture. It’s a common material selected for particleboard and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) applications.
Applications for Baltic Birch Plywood
The durability, strength, moisture resistance, and ease of customization make Baltic birch plywood a good material choice for a wide variety of applications, some of which include but are not limited to:
Automotive
CNC cut-out parts and custom full-size panels create anti-slip flooring, seat backs, door panels, and wall cladding. The most common application is vehicle flooring for commercial vehicle flooring, trailers, and semi-trucks.
Construction
Baltic birch plywood can be used to create concrete forms to ensure that poured concrete sets properly and takes on the desired shape. It can also maintain proper alignment for lengthy continuous pours and achieve the intended finish along the form's surface. Wall paneling is another construction industry application that benefits from using Baltic birch plywood.
Aerospace
Aircraft plywood consists of ultra-thin birch veneers, making it lightweight and flexible yet extremely strong. The material can be painted, finished, and stained like wood, and the veneer face plies are defect-free, making it an ideal solution for airplane paneling.
Furniture
Baltic birch plywood is ideal for making furniture, such as cupboards, tables, stools, cabinets, and chairs. Its long lifespan and dimensional stability make it a preferred choice in furniture used for home, school, office, and retail settings.
Architecture
Engineered plywood proves beneficial in structural and building elements in airports, outdoor libraries, museums, and hotel lobbies. The birch creates a light red-brown finish, offering few impurities in the curved or straight grain, making it a perfect solution for architectural applications.
Hobbyist/Crafting
Baltic birch plywood is much sturdier than balsa wood, making it a good material choice for crafters, artists, and hobbyists. Baltic birch is also the preferred option for engraving and laser cutting, offering durability, an aesthetically pleasing fine-grain appearance, uniform light color, and affordability compared to other materials.
CNC cut-out parts and custom full-size panels create anti-slip flooring, seat backs, door panels, and wall cladding. The most common application is vehicle flooring for commercial vehicle flooring, trailers, and semi-trucks.
Baltic birch plywood can be used to create concrete forms to ensure that poured concrete sets properly and takes on the desired shape. It can also maintain proper alignment for lengthy continuous pours and achieve the intended finish along the form's surface. Wall paneling is another construction industry application that benefits from using Baltic birch plywood.
Aircraft plywood consists of ultra-thin birch veneers, making it lightweight and flexible yet extremely strong. The material can be painted, finished, and stained like wood, and the veneer face plies are defect-free, making it an ideal solution for airplane paneling.
Baltic birch plywood is ideal for making furniture, such as cupboards, tables, stools, cabinets, and chairs. Its long lifespan and dimensional stability make it a preferred choice in furniture used for home, school, office, and retail settings.
Engineered plywood proves beneficial in structural and building elements in airports, outdoor libraries, museums, and hotel lobbies. The birch creates a light red-brown finish, offering few impurities in the curved or straight grain, making it a perfect solution for architectural applications.
Baltic birch plywood is much sturdier than balsa wood, making it a good material choice for crafters, artists, and hobbyists. Baltic birch is also the preferred option for engraving and laser cutting, offering durability, an aesthetically pleasing fine-grain appearance, uniform light color, and affordability compared to other materials.
Contact Thomes Ltd., a Leading Supplier and Importer of Baltic Birch Plywood
Baltic birch plywood is a high-strength, aesthetically appealing form of plywood suitable for a wide range of applications. Contact Thomes to learn more about Baltic birch plywood and how it can help achieve the desired results in your next project.