Sanding Baltic Birch

[JessL]

My husband just told me that he had some pieces of baltic birch that came with something he had shipped, it was to help protect it. It was a while back and was stored in one of our outdoor shelter logic tents.  We found it and it looks a bit rough.  I'm assuming I can sand this stuff down, cut off the edges that look bad and it would be good to scroll with.  Thoughts?

[dgman]

Chances are it is not high quality BB. I recently ordered some turning squares from a hardwood dealer. Some of the smaller squares were attached to a piece of BB to stabilize during shipping. It is very poor quality and not useable except maybe as a backup board for drilling. However, if yours is useable, you can sand it down. I use 320 grit on my random orbital sander.

[JessL]

1 minute ago, dgman said:

Chances are it is not high quality BB. I recently ordered some turning squares from a hardwood dealer. Some of the smaller squares were attached to a piece of BB to stabilize during shipping. It is very poor quality and not useable except maybe as a backup board for drilling. However, if yours is useable, you can sand it down. I use 320 grit on my random orbital sander.

Anyway I can tell if it is high quality?  I don't know the exact measurements but they are big pieces - in the 4 to 5 feet range.

[Bill WIlson]

Some of the giveaways are the number of plys in the sheet and the thickness of the face veneers.  BB ply will have more layers than other types of plywood.  For example, 1/2" thick BB ply will have 9 layers.  1/4" will have 5 layers, so on and so forth.  The face veneers are the same thickness as the core layers.  This allows for sufficient sanding to smooth out the surface.  Also, looking at the edges, you should not see any voids.  Patches on the face veneers will exist, but should be few and far between.

BB ply typically comes in 5' x 5' sheets.

Here is a link to a pretty good explanation of the qualities of BB ply.

https://www.woodworkerssource.com/blog/woodworking-101/tips-tricks/your-ultimate-guide-to-baltic-birch-plywood-why-its-better-when-to-use-it/

Also, Travis just released an article on BB ply that may be of help.

https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/articles/resources/all-about-baltic-birch-plywood-r128/

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Bill WIlson

[TAIrving]

20 hours ago, JessL said:

My husband just told me that he had some pieces of baltic birch that came with something he had shipped, it was to help protect it. It was a while back and was stored in one of our outdoor shelter logic tents.  We found it and it looks a bit rough.  I'm assuming I can sand this stuff down, cut off the edges that look bad and it would be good to scroll with.  Thoughts?

Yes, you can scroll with it.  The other part of the question is, will the finished product be satisfactory for the purpose you have in mind?  If it is, then question answered.

The questions are:  How smooth will the surface be?  Did you sand through the surface layer to get it ready for scrolling?  Will it take the finish you are planning to use?  

Another question for plywood in general is whether it has voids in the inner layers.  These will show up and cause problems when scrolling.  But the nice thing about baltic birch plywood is that it does not have voids.  

[barb.j.enders]

I was just going to say, Travis just did an article on BB ply and the grades.

[JessL]

Thanks everyone.  I will go back and read that article again.