Baltic Birch Plywood prices?
I have been looking all over for people locally that stock BB plywood and have had very limited results. Most places do have the ability to order it for me. I am very new to BB plywood and have heard very good things about it, with the most important being that it is very stable.
What is a fair price range that I should be willing to pay for 3/4" and maybe even some 1/2". The one place that had 3/4" gave me a quote of something like $79 per 5x5 sheet. I was not expecting that kind of price on a small 5x5 peice of plywood. Does this sound reasonable or should I not dream of paying that?
Tony if you are near a Rockler retail store you're in luck.
I am an amatuer garage woodworker, became aware of baltic birch plywood 4-5 yrs ago when a speaker I wanted to build was specified to be made with baltic birch plywood- no exception. Audio Note in Britian uses it for their speakers and kits. At that time a 3/4 X 60 X 60 inch piece was in the low $50s in Seattle. It has ranged into the $70s since then but I believe I saw it for about $60 last month.
The local Rockler retail store stocks it but the largest size is 30" X 60" and it tends to retail for more than I would want to pay. On the other hand they do have a nice variety of thicknesses. The current flyer for the time period Jan 2 to Jan 29th just arrived and the baltic birch is on sale at 50% off. The example in the flyer is for the 3/4 X 30 X 60 inch size regular $49.99, sale price 24.99. That makes the regular price for a 5' X 5' piece $100- yowie! However at half it is of course $50 for a full piece of 3/4". That is better than I can do locally that I have found. I am going to go load up a bunch of the 30 X 60 inch pieces to have on hand in probably 3 or 4 thicknesses, I find the size very handy. You will find people tend to use it for jigs or other applications where a quality piece of ply is needed.
So if there is a Rockler down the road you're in luck, if not hopefully the price references helped.
Regards,
Larry R- Seattle