Baltic birch has become sort of the “kleenex” of this type of plywood. I’ve seen “Russian ply” “Finnish ply” and “Apple ply” as other names for supposedly comparable products.
Nothing I’ve seen at HD even comes close. Our local Menards has “birch ply” that is regular 3 or 5 ply centers with prettier but very thin birch outer plies (just like the oak and maple and even walnut ply you can get from them), but it’s nothing like true baltic birch with all the even plies and no voids. It really is easy to identify when you can see the edge.
The only retailer I’ve seen with this type of plywood is the local Woodcraft store, but I can’t seem to bring myself to pay what they’re asking for it for the kind of shop projects I’ve been doing recently.
I can think of at least 6 stores that sell it (none are the HD or Lowes types) within a 45 min drive. So that’s 1/0.5M. But I’m sure I don’t know them all, and that doesn’t count Boulder or Aurora, which probably contribute to that 2.7M number.
The key is to head to google maps, not the search bar at lowes. Look for “hardwood” or “lumber” stores. Or you can find a “building supply” store and call them and they will know where to find hardwoods.
You also can’t get good hardwood in big box stores. Stuff like rough cut maple, walnut, cherry, and the bazillion exotic stuff are only in these local places.
I am very confident there are stores in coastal NC. The east is so crowded compared to Colorado, and the states are so small. You don’t have to drive far, I’m sure.
There are probably also stores that sell sawstop or festool products nearby, but they target the pros, just like the hardwood dealers, so you may not even know they are there. But the builders know.
The easiest way to find baltic birch(russian birch) is to call a cabinet shop in your area that builds kitchen cabinets. Ask them where they get their hardwood. As another search angle, search for beech, maple, alder, walnut hardwoods. I’m am sure that between the cabinet shops and a search for hardwoods, you will find a supplier in your area. Most all hardwood suppliers carry the baltic birch plywood.
Hardwoods and marine ply I can get in Wilmington but I don’t know that birch is a popular species for marine use. The nearest Woodcraft store’s about a 2+ hour drive. No worries, when I absolutely positively need a specific thing I’ll find it. I’m still very much in the learning stage with the MPCNC and finding foam very handy for the ‘I wonder what’ll happen if I do this?’ kinda situations. The only milling I’ve done in the past was with metal (other than straight sided router bits for dados/rabbets) so even things like upcut vs. downcut bits are new to me.
Oddly enough I’ve been in their place, they’re right next to a granite dealer I bought a piece of soapstone from a few years ago to top an entryway table I’d made. I’d stuck my nose in the open overhead door and a forklift operator brought me in to look around. I don’t recall if they had much plywood in stock or even if it’s the kind of place you can get 3’ of this and 5’ of that from but worth keeping in mind.
Just messaged them thru their site, may as well find out what the deal is.
