How are y'all doing? I have a question about plywood,
i've been having trouble finding marine plywood in my aria (cheked all the privately owned places too) i finally found a place down in Charlston that has it, they have okoume which is pretty expensive but they do have white birch i was wondering if this is good plywood? it is more in my price range thank you for your help
Brian
White birch marine ply should work just fine. "Marine grade" is a quality standard, as well as the type of glue used. Make sure they carry it in all the thicknesses you need, though. I just found a supplier here locally that has marine grade birch, of couse, now that I don't need it anymore....
It is not much more expensive than ACX.
Most white birch around here is NOT for the water. The stuff you found may be, though I've never seen it, but make sure it has waterproof glue. The glue lines will be black between the plys. If you decide to get some take a small piece and soak it in a bucket of water for a day or so. It will fall apart if the glue is not waterproof. You can use ACX fir plywood for these boats without many problems. The wood species is the same as marine grade but the wood quality is lower. Marine ply has no voids in the core. You may have some trouble finding ACX also but it is sometimes easier to find than marine and it's cheaper.
Have you got your keel together yet?
Keith
The ticket in plywood is the veneer count (the more the better) and veneer thickness (they should all be very close to the same thickness). Most birch ply is referred to as "cabinet grade" and has paper thin outer veneers which serve no useful purpose other then looking good on a cabinet door. These are the things you want in good plywood, plus the lack of voids and WBP (Water Boil Proof) glue with a rot resistant species of wood throughout.
I might also add that the marine grade birch which I saw was "Finnish" birch, not white birch. I was informed that the finnish was similar to the marine grade white. Both of these are new to me. They would not finish "bright" very well, though.
Thank y'all for the speedy reply i appreciate it the supplyer i am looking at is all marine woods they have teak, mahogany,baltic birch oak luan mdo 2s simpson and cherry all in 4x8 sheets the white birch that i am looking at lists like this White Birch C2 WP 1/4, 1/2, 3/4. i have no idea what c2 or wp stands for i think the wp is water proof but im not certain.
all the others are seriously expensive. i did find 3/4 and 1/2 inch marine ply closer to home not sure what type of wood it is but cannot get 1/4 inch
this place in charlston is the only place ive found with 1/4 inch or that can even get it at all.
Well Keith about the keel, i have all my parts drawn cut or redy for glue i ordered a bicuit joiner online 2 weeks ago and am still waiting rather impationatly for its arrival i want to use bicuits during my glue up it may not be necessary but i think it will hold together beter i think? or somthing like that.
Any way i do have one more question i used your advise keith and bought all fir 2x6's are the 8', 10', and 12' lengths cut into stringers if so that will get me through the plywood delema and getting my joiner in the mail as i just aquired a table saw to rip them on
Thank y'all again
Brian
Well the white birch i found was NOT marine grade which left the only possabilaty Okume! which led me on a quest to find somthing, anything marine grade,i drove 40 miles here and 50 there to remote lumberyards and popular ones as well with no luck the only one that could possably have gotten it would absolutely not deal with me as i am not a contractor, i couldent even persuade the sexy girl behind the counter with my dashing good looks 'majin that. :roll:
Any way i got totaly fed up with it i even took the day off to search,
i got on my puter and found a place out in los angeles who had a good selection i checked it out gave some info and they called me before i could even click off the site i talked to the salesman for a while and he told me the differant types and prices and i said screw it and ordered some, delivary was wicked cheap! the wood was not but it is cheaper than the okume in charlston (that i would have to go pick up 2 hrs. away)
And its delivered to my house .
I bought hydrotek marine, the salesman said it was rated bs1088
which the way he talked about it was a good thing, he said it had absolutely no voids and just as good as okume so i went with it.
Has anyone ever heard of this wood because before this project i diddnt know there were differant types of marine plywood.
MY biscuit joiner just came in a few minuits ago So im off to the boat cave.
Brian
Hydrotek, or Aquatek, is Meranti, which is completely acceptable. Not quite as good as Okume, but I would build a boat with it. Who would have thought you could get marine grade shipped to you cheaper than picking it up yourself? Awesome.
Yeah it was $160 shipped to a freight yard about 50 miles from here and $200 to my door it was $40 more but i dont have to take off work to go and get it so its worth it.
Well all that waiting for my joiner and all those trips to builder supply houses and i forgot one tiny thing ...
Biscuits! dagumit!!guess ill just get to know my joiner and practice with it
i will get biscuits on the way home tomorow and git to it.
you got ALL your plywood for $200? where did you order from?