The day I finally stopped fighting Baltic birch plywood

For years I swore by pine for all my cabinet boxes. Cheap, easy to find at the lumberyard in Portland, and I knew how it would move. Then I had a job last March where the client wanted white oak veneer plywood and I had to use Baltic birch for the carcasses. First cut with my Track saw and the edge was absolutely perfect. No chipout, no tearout. I spent the next three days building that kitchen and never had to fill a single edge with bondo. Pine would have given me 20 minutes of sanding per panel. I went back to pine for my next build and hated every second of it. The tearout drove me nuts. So now I eat the extra cost and order Baltic birch in bulk from a place in Salem. Has anyone else made the switch and kicked yourself for not doing it sooner?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty12614d ago

Oh man, Baltic birch is a total game changer for sure. Honestly, I've been there with pine and the sanding nightmare, it's like the wood fights you every step of the way. Ngl, I started using it for shelving in my own shop and now I can't imagine going back to that cheap stuff either.

theagarcia13d ago

Actually, @betty126, you ever try MDF for shelving? No fight at all, no grain to contend with, and it's way cheaper than Baltic birch. I get the appeal of the nice plywood look but for shop shelves that are gonna get beat up anyway, MDF's flatness wins every time for me.