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Birch ply vs Marine ply

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    Posted: 23 March 2016 at 2:02pm
Never used Marine ply tbh 18mm

what is the main difference between the both plys, 

and whats the fashionation with Marine for box builds over Birch ply

whats the price diff? 

thanks for your thoughts and opinins
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sapro2 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 March 2016 at 2:07pm
Birch Ply (or Baltic Birch Ply) is plywood made from slow growing baltic birch. The Birch grew slowly due to the cold nature of the environment that the tree grew in. Essentially due to the slow growing it is denser than normal ply but more expensive.

Marine ply is ply used for boat building as is better for speaker building than normal ply but not as good as baltic birch.

Horses for courses really, the more you spend on your ply the better it is for your cabinets.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 March 2016 at 3:13pm
True marine grade ply cost over £75 a sheet and as much ads £150 a sheet trade, The low grade 5 to 8 core B&Q stuff is graded as marine as it uses a water proof glue between each laminate, but its far from void free. and cost half the amount of Baltic birch ply.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SouthwestCNC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 March 2016 at 5:47pm
Marine ply is notorious for splintering during cutting. It is possible to get clean cut edges with cnc using compression type bits. But for manual cutting it can be very arduous to achieve clean cuts. There are many methods, one is leaving an offset and gently plane to size with a thicknesser planer. Another is routing 1/2 depth from each side. Or one will need a well trammed high spec table saw with a good quality low rake blade.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 70,s hero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 March 2016 at 5:32pm
Also, to avoid splintering, run a stanley blade cut along the line of the cut before citting, seems to work. There are a few grades of Birch ply too, as I understand it BB grade is the highest quality.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote C-Audiofreak Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2016 at 10:51am
I have been using birch ply this wknd for first time as I found a reasonably priced source local to me and it's 13laminate virtually 99.9% void free it was only bout £9 a sheet more than far eastern hardwood ply and I have to say I won't be using hardwood ply ever again birch all the way for me from now on lovely stuff and def worth the extra
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SouthwestCNC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2016 at 2:24pm
Russian, Latvian and Scandinavian are generally of a higher standard of birch ply, some would argue that Scandinavian is of highest quality. All birch plywood is hardwood, Far eastern plywood is a generic name for low quality wbp ply, mostly used for roofing and constructional use.

the grade letter refers to the quality of the outer face laminates. B is the highest grade and stands for free from knots and patches and Bb is knot free with butterfly patches. It's uncommon to find b/b grade but b/bb is easily obtainable and most commonly sheets are Bb/bb.

Edited by SouthwestCNC - 28 March 2016 at 2:29pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tv00 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 March 2016 at 12:22pm
I used this for concrete 13 layers birch covered with dark brown lacquer, waterproof glue, shouldn't rot as easy as bich ply, but I think it's the same apart from the treatment (lacquer / glue)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SouthwestCNC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 March 2016 at 12:55pm
What is this fascination with building speakers from marine plywood? Marine ply is less dense than birch so for sound, resonance and strength qualities Birch is better. And cheaper. 

Unless the speakers are for external install and exposed to water the only upside to marine ply is that it is lighter in weight, But im sure for this application weight is going to be outweighed by sound quality every time. 


Edited by SouthwestCNC - 29 March 2016 at 12:59pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tv00 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 March 2016 at 1:12pm
I don't know if I used birch ply, it is birch ply and it is more dense due to the fact that it is compressed to 17,5 mm with lacquer
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote C-Audiofreak Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 March 2016 at 1:38pm
As I said I shan't be using anything else other than birch 13lam ply for future builds it's simply beautiful material to use
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tv00 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 March 2016 at 1:51pm
THIS IS 13 lam birch ply I am talking about!
It's harder pressed with lacquer & waterproff glue.
http://www.krydsfiner.dk/produkter/filmbelagt-krydsfiner


Edited by tv00 - 29 March 2016 at 1:53pm
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