Ontario Canada source for Baltic Birch...?

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I've made it from Vancouver to Calgary in 8 hours (and that was before the coquihalla)... 17 hrs could get you close to Winnepeg (if you could maintain the rate (requires driving at night)

And that time included the hour you stopped off at my place? :D


We have lots of Pizza Pizzas and Tim Hortons - that's the priority for most of the population. ;)

Hmmm, every response I can type to this (except this one) will send me to the Sin Bin :rofl:

Cheers!
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
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The thing is, they're of lower quality than BB from other lumber places....lots of voids and lots of knots. That's why I went up to Stouffville to get mine.

Brendan,

If that is the case it is not real BB, even if it is made of Birch. True Baltic Birch comes in 5'x5' sheets and i've only ever seen 12, 15, 18mm. (but 9mm might exist, if we can get thicker than 18, then i'd very surprised that Chris hasn't mentioned it (althou double 12 or 15 would make more sense anyway)

dave
 
If that is the case it is not real BB, even if it is made of Birch.

Sounds like some of that el-cheapo reject poplar making its rounds at the various places.

The local Rona was tricked into a couple of pallets of "furniture grade" poplar ply that looked good on the outside... until you cut it.

A week later, the manager was dumping the stuff for $5/sheet.

Cheers!
 
East coast distributor of BB and Aircraft plywood

Thomes Canada - Baltic Birch Plywood

Note that while they list BB as being "available" in thickness from 3mm up to 30mm thickness, they are also mainly a wholesale distributor, meaning larger quantities -think B-train (tandem trailer) loads per month. It would be interested to contact them for a location of any resellers in your neighborhood.

While players like Home-Depot & Lowes in the US and Rona, etc., in Canada certainly have the overall sales meet the volume requirement of larger distributors, there are only so many SKU's they're willing to carry for the domestic retail market. Products like Baltic Birch Plywood, or solid cork floor tiles (i.e. not laminated) are niche products, with all the associated disadvantages to a large retailer.

I've worked for a commercial millwork company on the west coast for over 16 years. Fortunately we have regional industrial distributors that supply the variety of commodity sheet goods that we consume in the thousands of sheets per year, and we seldom need look very far for sources. There are however, few nation-wide distributors or retailers of such materials, so I'd suggest contacting local commercial millwork/furniture/kitchen cabinet shops for their sources. Some of these shops may even be willing to resell small quantities of sheet goods direct from their own inventory.
 
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Joined 2007
I apologize, I remembered wrong. What I meant to say was that many places sell 17-18mm BB, and some places sell the 19mm variant, commonly referred to as 3/4" BB.

I was in the Oshawa Home Depot today (near Harmony Road) and had a look. They have "Russian plywood" but only in handy panel sizes (24 x 48). This has more and thinner laminations than the BB I had from Central Fairbanks and they are darker. Also the face veneer (and I assume the in between layers) is not clear of knots and defects. Overall quality is poorer.
They had 2 thicknesses - 12.5mm and 17.5mm.
 
I was wondering how much of their catalog they actually had on hand. Have you dealt with them...? If so, how large of a purchase did you need to make...?



Thanks for the link...

Sorry for the delay in answering you.

Regarding A&M: For the most part they actually have all of the wood in stock, they have a large warehouse where they air dry wood for years, another area where they cut their own veneer and then the smaller upstairs room where they have all of the rough cut large dimension boards including many exotics and woods for musical instruments. I believe the baltic birch ply is also up there. I think all baltic birch ply is now metric. They are happy to put whatever you want aside for you to pick up. I would call a few days before you go to give them time to check their stock and organize what you want. If you want any resawing, cuts, jointing or planing done, you have to that arrange ahead of time.

I live nearby and often buy wood from them. Very knowledgeable and pleasant family type business. There is no minimum order.

You should also know that there is another small wood store in Waterloo that also sells baltic birch. I would expect you can find it closer to you at some of the smaller specialty wood suppliers.

Jim
 
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Brendan,

If that is the case it is not real BB, even if it is made of Birch. True Baltic Birch comes in 5'x5' sheets and i've only ever seen 12, 15, 18mm. (but 9mm might exist, if we can get thicker than 18, then i'd very surprised that Chris hasn't mentioned it (althou double 12 or 15 would make more sense anyway)

dave

It comes up to 24mm here at Robert Bury in Ottawa. But you have to have a commercial account to buy at the places where there are more choices. Kinda sucks if you are not a cabinet maker. Good thing I am!

Mark
 
I was in the Oshawa Home Depot today (near Harmony Road) and had a look. They have "Russian plywood" but only in handy panel sizes (24 x 48). This has more and thinner laminations than the BB I had from Central Fairbanks and they are darker. Also the face veneer (and I assume the in between layers) is not clear of knots and defects. Overall quality is poorer.
They had 2 thicknesses - 12.5mm and 17.5mm.

I just saw this same product at the Barrie location yesterday. Funny thing is, at the top of the product sticker it says "Russian Plywood" and across the bottom it states "Made in Canada" :confused:

Regardless, at a cost of $28.xx the expected quality IMO isn't there...
 
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